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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A .  KOFOID  AND 

MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


Hxo 


^^     y^  ^uy^ 


a-^  J  r-^iSl 


In  Wild  Africa. 


TRAVEL-ADVENTURE  SERIES. 


IN  WILD  AFRICA.  Adventures  of  Two  Boys  in 
the  Sahara  Desert.  By  Thomas  W.  Knox.  325 
pages.    With  five  Illustrations  by  H.  Burgess,    j^i.50. 

THE  LAND  OF  THE  KANGAROO.  Adventures 
of  Two  Boys  in  the  Great  Island  Continent.  By 
Colonel  Thomas  W.  Knox.  318  pages.  Illustrated 
by  H.  Burgess.    ^1.50. 


OVER  THE  ANDES ;  or,  Our  Boys  in  New  South 
America.  By  Hezekiah  Butterworth.  370  pages. 
With  five  Illustrations  by  Henry  Sandham.     ^1.50. 

LOST  IN  NICARAGUA ;  or,  Among  Coffee  Farms 
and  Banana  Lands,  in  the  Countries  of  the 
Great  Canal.  By  Hezekiah  Butterworth.  296 
pages.    With  five  Illustrations  by  H.  Burgess.    ^1.50. 


TTT 


TTT 


IN  WILD  AFRICA 

ADVENTURES  OF  TWO   YOUTHS  IN  A 
JOURNEY  THROUGH  THE  SAHARA  DESSERT 


rxx: 


BY 

THOMAS    W.    KNOX 

Author 

of  "The  Boy  Travellers,"  (15  vols.),  "Overland 

Through  Asia,"  etc.,  etc. 

Illustrated  and  with  colored  frontispiece 

bv  H.    BURGESS 

^m\)mmmk 

BOSTON    and    CHICAGO 
W.   A.    WILDE    COMPANY 


imxnucr 


^^ 


Copyright,  1895, 
By  W.  A.  Wilde  &  Company, 

A II  rights  reserved. 


IN  WILD  AFRICA. 


HS 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.     DEPARTURE  FOR  ALGIERS  —  Entering   the  desert      .  7 

II.     A  REFRACTORY  MULE  ~  Starting   from  Biskra  —  The 

first  camp 24 

III.  SALT  LAKES  OF  THE  DESERT— A  lion  hunt    ...  42 

IV.  PHENOMENA  OF  THE  DESERT  — Aral)  horses  .     .     .  59 
V.     DESERT  GARDENS  — Hunting  the  Leopard  and  Ostriches  75 

VI.     CAUGHT  IN  A  SAND  STORM  —  A  dangerous   country  95 

VIL     IN  SIGHT  OF  WAREGLA— An  Arab  dinner    ....  no 

VIII.     EXPLORING  WAREGLA  —  Home  of  the  Tuaregs        .     .  127 

IX.     ON  THE  ROAD  — Curing  a  sheikh 142 

X.     GADAMES  — The  caravan  trade    . 158 

XL     EL  HASI  TO  MOURZOUK  — Kingdom  of  Fezzan  .     .     .  176 

XII.     A  SLAVE  CARAVAN  — Lake  Chad       192 

XIII.  AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD  — 

The  Bidduma 211 

XIV.  KUKAWA— Sultan  of  Bornoo 226 

XV.     ELEPHANTS  IN  BORNOO— Hunting  gazelles       ...  240 

XVI.     LEAVING  KUKAWA  — Killing  a  big  snake 256 

XVIL     A  TOWN  IN  MOTION— Story  from  the  Niger       ...  272 

XVIIL     KANO  AND  SOKOTO  — Timbuctoo 289 

XIX.     DOWN    THE    NIGER  —  Mungo    Park    and   the    Lander 

brothers  —  The  end 305 

3 


w:5iMr5i 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

"  On  their  way  to  the  hotel  the  boys  went  through  the  marketplace.'* 

Frontispiece    28 

*'  Calculating  his  distance  as  well  as  he  could,  he  took  careful  aim."     ,         52 

"  Suddenly  ...  a  band  of  .   .   .   Arabs,  all  mounted  on  horses,  made 

their  appearance." •     ,       179 

"  It  gave  the  doctor  and  Ned  an  opportunity  to  discharge  their  rifles 

directly  down  his  throat." 220 

"On  and  on  they  came,  following  the  pathway." 246 

"  The  governor  did  not  rise  to  receive  us  —  " 281 


IN  WILD  AFRICA. 

CHAPTER   I. 

DEPARTURE  FOR  ALGIERS ENTERING  THE  DESERT. 

WOULD  you  like  to  go  to  Africa  ?  " 
"  Certainly  I  would,  sir,"  was  the  reply. 

*' Think  over  it  before  you  decide,"  said  the  other. 
**  There's  a  great  deal  of  hardship  in  an  African  jour- 
ney such  as  I  intend  to  make,  and  you  might  not 
enjoy  it.  I'm  going  into  wild  Africa,  away  from  the 
beaten  track  of  travelers,  and  where  the  comforts  of  civili- 
zation cannot  be  obtained." 

**  I  should  like  it  all  the  more  for  that,"  was  the  response. 
*'The  civilized  places  would  be  interesting,  of  course,  but 
they  would  not  have  the  novelty  and  excitement  of  the 
savage  regions  of  that  wonderful  continent.  No  matter 
where  you  are  going,  sir,  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure 
to  be  with  you,  and,  if  my  parents  consent,  I'm  ready  to 
start  at  any  time  you  name." 

''They  have  consented  already  and  you  may  consider 
it  settled.  Now  go  and  see  if  your  Cousin  Harry  would 
like  to  be  with  us,  and  bring  him  here  with  his  answer  at 
this  time  to-morrow." 

The  speakers  in  the  foregoing  dialogue  were  Mr. 
Thomas    Whitney,     of    New    York,     and    his    nephew, 


8  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Edward,  the  latter  a  bright,  intelhgent  youth  seventeen 
years  of  age,  and  better  known  as  "  Ned."  Mr.  Whitney 
was  a  bachelor,  and  had  a  great  fondness  for  travel  and 
exploration.  He  had  visited  all  parts  of  the  world,  spent 
a  winter  in  the  Arctic  regions,  ascended  great  mountains 
in  all  the  continents,  and  lived  and  traveled  among  savage 
tribes  of  people  in  Asia  and  South  America,  and  lived 
for  several  months  among  the  aboriginals  of  Australia. 
He  had  a  large  collection  of  curiosities  which  he  had 
gathered  in  his  journeys,  and  used  to  say  playfully  that 
when  he  got  tired  of  traveling  he  intended  to  open  a 
museum  and  hang  himself  up  in  a  showcase  as  one  of  the 
objects  of  attraction  and  surprise. 

The  nephews  whom  we  have  mentioned  were  the  sons 
of  Mr.  Whitney's  brothers,  who  were  also  residents  of 
New  York.  One  of  these  brothers  was  a  merchant  and 
the  other  a  lawyer,  and  neither  of  them  had  shown  any 
fondness  for  travel.  But  they  were  willing  that  their 
boys  should  see  something  of  the  world,  and  before  the 
date  of  the  conversation  with  which  our  story  opens  they 
had  consented  that  the  enterprising  youths  should  accom- 
pany their  uncle  in  his  journey  into  Africa.  Neither  Ned 
nor  Harry  had  been  consulted  in  the  preliminaries,  but 
what  boy  is  likely  to  say  "  no  "  when  asked  if  he  would 
like  to  go  and  see  foreign  lands  ? 

Ned  hurried  away  to  find  Harry  and  break  the  exciting 
news  to  him.  You  may  be  sure  that  both  the  boys  were 
on  hand  at  Mr.  Whitiiey's  bachelor  apartment  at  the  time 
indicated  on  the  following  day,  and  that  Harry's  answer 
was  an  emphatic  '*  Yes  !  " 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  9 

*<  That's  all  settled,"  said  Mr.  Whitney;  '*  and  now 
we'll  come  down  to  the  business  of  starting." 

''We'll  do  anything  you  want  us  to,  uncle,"  said  Ned, 
speaking  for  Harry  as  well  as  for  himself.  Ned  was  the 
elder  of  the  two  by  about  three  months  and  probably  con- 
cluded that  his  superiority  of  age  entitled  him  to  ''out- 
rank "  his  cousin. 

"Well,  there  isn't  much  for  you  to  do  in  the  way  of 
buying  materials  and  outfitting  generally,"  was  the  reply. 
"  Whatever  we  wish  to  take  from  New  York  I  will  order 
in  ample  time  for  our  departure.  Most  of  the  things  we'll 
want  for  our  journey  can  be  bought  after  we  get  to  Africa, 
or  I  can  have  them  sent  from  London.  You  will  need 
some  rough  clothing  for  your  journey,  but  that,  too,  can 
be  mostly  obtained  at  the  same  place  where  we  will  pur- 
chase our  equipments.  You  will  want  a  good  stock  of 
underclothing,  suitable  for  a  warm  country,  a  suit  of  cor- 
duroy, and  two  or  three  suits  of  blue  serge  or  flannel. 
Lay  in  a  good  supply  of  boots  and  shoes,  say  three  or 
four  pairs  for  each  of  you ;  and  you  will  want  some  suits 
of  canvas  or  duck,  but  these  we  can  get  as  well  at  our 
point  of  departure. 

"Are  you  ready  to  tell  us  now  to  what  part  of  Africa 
we're  going?  "  queried  Ned. 

"  I  haven't  fully  made  up  my  mind  as  to  my  route," 
replied  Mr.  Whitney.  "  I  have  laid  out  in  a  general  way 
that  we  will  first  go  to  Algeria  and  from  there  make  a 
journey  into  the  Great  Sahara  Desert;  how  far  we  may 
go  into  the  desert  will  depend  upon  circumstances.  If  the 
natives  are  peaceful,  and  will  allow  us  to  pass,  it  is  my 


lO  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

intention  to  push  quite  far  to  the  south.  If  we  find  them 
hostile,  we  may  be  obHged  to  return  before  going  very 
far,  and  seek  to  penetrate  the  continent  by  another  route. 
One  can  never  tell  very  long  beforehand  how  the  natives 
will  receive  him,  and  for  that  reason  I  cannot  say  at  pres- 
ent exactly  where  we  are  going.  I  have  written  to  friends 
of  mine  in  Algeria  on  the  subject,  but  can't  look  for  a  reply 
until  three  or  four  weeks  from  now.  In  the  meantime  I 
want  you  boys  to  learn  how  to  take  observations  of  lati- 
tude and  longitude,  and  have  arranged  for  Professor 
Hegeman,  of  Columbia  College,  to  instruct  you.  He  will 
expect  you  at  two  o'clock  this  afternoon.  Here  is  the 
address." 

Ned  and  Harry  looked  at  each  other  in  some  astonish- 
ment, and  for  a  few  seconds  they  stood  speechless ;  but 
they  quickly  recovered  themselves,  and  thanked  their 
uncle  for  his  thoughtfulness  in  their  behalf. 

"  Oh,  that's  all  right,"  said  Mr.  Whitney;  "  I  have  for 
some  time  been  planning  this  affair,  and  wanted  you  to 
accompany  me  !  I  knew  it  would  be  a  good  experience 
for  both  of  you,  and  your  fathers  have  freely  consented 
that  you  should  embrace  the  opportunity  to  travel.  And 
I  intend,"  he  added  with  a  smile,  "  that  you  shall  not  be 
idlers,  by  any  means.  One  of  the  necessities  of  explora- 
tion is  to  be  able  to  find  your  position  on  the  earth's  surface. 
Unless  you  can  do  so,  you  are  at  a  great  disadvan- 
tage at  all  times,  and  especially  in  case  your  guides  should 
desert  you,    and  you   are   thrown   entirely   on   your    own 


resources." 


*' I  quite  understand  that,"  said  Ned;   "now  that  you 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  II 

speak  of  it,  I  remember  that  when  Stanley  made  his  first 
trip  into  Africa  he  had  not  studied  astronomy,  and  did  not 
know  how  to  take  observations.  Probably  he  never 
thought  of  it  when  he  made  his  preparations  for  the  trip, 
but  before  he  set  out  on  his  second  journey  he  fully 
informed  himself,  and  ever  afterwards  could  take  his  lati- 
tude and  longitude  without  any  assistance." 

"  Why  don't  you  say  '  Mr.  Stanley  '?  "  Harry  whispered 
to  Ned  as  the  latter  paused,  and  the  doctor  was  busy 
examining  a  paper  that  lay  before  him  on  the  desk. 

"Because  that  isn't  the  way  to  speak  of  him,"  Ned 
replied  somewhat  haughtily.     *'  It  was  all  right  to  call  him 

*  Mr.'  down   to   and   after  his  first  journey,  but  now  he's 

*  Stanley,'  and  stands  by  himself.  You  might  just  as 
well  say  '  Mr.  Caesar,'  '  Mr.  Hannibal,'  or  '  Mr.  Napo- 
leon.' When  a  man  has  climbed  as  high  on  the  pinnacle 
of  fame  as  Stanley  has  he  doesn't  need  any  handle  to  his 
name." 

"That's  right,"  said  Mr.  Whitney,  who  was  taking  in 
the  conversation  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  looking  at 
the  documents  on  his  desk.  "  And  I  want  both  of  you  to 
hope  that  one  day  your  names  may  be  so  well  known  that 
they  can  be  treated  in  the  same  way." 

"  There'll  be  a  difficulty  about  that !  "  exclaimed  Harry, 
"because  there  are  three  of  us  all  of  the  same  name; 
but  I  don't  think  we'll  worry  about  it  at  present.  It's  time 
to  be  off,  Ned,  to  get  around  on  time  for  our  first  lesson 
in  navigation." 

"Yes,  that's  so,"  replied  Ned,  "  and  we'll  bid  you  good 
day,  uncle.     When  shall  we  come  again?" 


12  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


( ( 


Oh,  drop  in  any  day  you  like,  about  this  hour.  Stop 
a  moment !  one  thing  I  almost  forgot.  I'll  have  some 
books  here  for  you  to-morrow  that  you  can  take  home  and 
read ;  the  works  of  various  African  travelers  of  the  past 
twenty-five  years.  Meantime  you  can  stop  at  Regand's 
book  store  and  get  Sir  Henry  Drummond's  '  Tropical 
Africa'  and  Mrs.  French-Sheldon's  '  Sultan  to  Sultan.' 
They  are  not  included  in  the  selection  I  have,  and  we  will 
want  to  take  them  along ;  and  you  will  wish  to  read  them. 
What  with  your  studies  in  taking  observations  and  reading 
up  on  Africa,  ^^our  time  will  be  fully  employed  until  we 
are  ready  to  leave  New  York." 

From  that  time  on  there  were  no  more  industrious  stu- 
dents in  New  York  than  Ned  and  Harry  Whitney,  and 
before  the  day  of  departure  arrived  they  were  pretty  well 
versed  in  the  theoretical  knowledge  of  the  work  laid  out 
for  them.  They  learned  the  uses  of  the  instruments  they 
were  to  take  along,  and  they  went  several  times  to  points 
in  the  neighborhood  of  New  York,  once  into  Westchester 
County,  once  to  Staten  Island,  and  once  to  Long  Island, 
thirty  or  forty  miles  from  the  city,  to  make  a  practical  test 
of  their  knowledge.  The  professor  praised  their  energy 
and  intelligence,  and  pronounced  them  fit  for  their  work. 
He  impressed  upon  them  very  forcibly  the  necessity  of 
the  greatest  possible  accuracy  in  everything  that  they 
did. 

"  Remember,"  said  he,  "that  a  very  small  error  in  an 
observation  will  make  a  difference  of  several  miles  in  your 
location,  and  that  you  must  never  be  satisfied  with  an 
approximation  when  it  is  possible  to  get  anything  else. 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  I3 

Where  time  permits,  it  will  be  always  advisable  for  both 
of  you  to  make  the  same  observation,  independent  of  one 
another,  and  then  compare  the  results.  If  they  are 
exactly  the  same,  you  can  be  satisfied  that  you  are  cor- 
rect; where  there  is  a  difference,  you  must  not  be  content 
until  you  ascertain  the  error  and  the  cause  of  it." 

In  due  time  Mr.  Whitney  received  the  letters  he 
expected  from  Algeria,  and  then  the  party  took  passage 
on  the  first  steamer  leaving  for  Algiers.  We  will  hence- 
forth call  Mr.  Whitney  ''Doctor,"  as  he  had  studied 
medicine,  and  taken  a  diploma  from  a  medical  college, 
but  he  had  never  practised  the  art  of  healing  in  a  regular 
way ;  that  is,  he  had  never  established  an  office  or  set  him- 
self up  as  a  regular  physician,  his  practice  being  limited 
to  himself  and  the  companions  of  his  travels  and  explora- 
tions. When  at  home  in  America  he  repudiated  the  medi- 
cal title  altogether,  and  hence  we  have  refrained  from 
giving  it  until  he  started  for  a  foreign  land. 

Including  the  instruments,  books,  and  personal  baggage 
generally,  the  party  was  well  provided  at  the  time  it  left 
New  York.  The  doctor  deemed  it  advisable  to  make 
some  of  his  purchases  in  his  native  city,  as  there  were  cer- 
tain delicacies  and  requisites  which  he  would  be  unable  to 
find  in  the  Algerian  market.  Ned  asked  if  it  wasn't 
proper  to  take  a  stock  of  medicines  along,  and  whether 
they  could  be  procured  at  the  point  where  they  were  to 
begin  their  journey. 

"  I  have  already  ordered  the  medicines  from  Mr.  Well- 
come, the  gentleman  whom  you  met  one  evening  at  your 
father's  house  two  or  three  months  ago.     He  is  an  American 


14  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

established  in  London,  and  it  is  part  of"  his  business  to 
equip  explorers  with  medical  supplies.  He  outfitted 
Stanley  in  his  last  two  expeditions  and  has  done  the  same 
thing  for  other  explorers,  African,  Arctic,  Australian,  and 
others.  We  will  find  our  store  of  medicines  awaiting  us, 
all  put  up  in  strong  cases  ready  for  transportation." 

*' That's  very  convenient,  certainly,"  Ned  answered, 
*'  and  it  is  a  pity  that  everything  can't  be  supplied  in  the 
same  way." 

**  Yes,  it  is  a  pity,"  replied  the  doctor,  '*but  the  outfit- 
ting business  is  carried  to  such  an  extent  in  London  that 
the  work  of  the  explorer  is  greatly  simplified  from  what 
it  used  to  be.  The  outfitting  establishments  there  keep 
large  stocks  of  goods  on  hand,  and  for  special  purposes 
will  get  almost  anything  you  want,  but  at  the  same  time  it 
is  necessary  to  rely  very  largely  upon  the  supplies  attain- 
able at  the  point  of  departure." 

The  party  had  a  pleasant  voyage  across  the  Atlantic, 
and  through  the  Mediterranean,  and  in  due  time  reached 
Algiers.  They  stopped  a  few  hours  at  Gibraltar,  giving 
the  boys  sufficient  time  to  ascend  to  the  top  of  the  famous 
Rock  and  look  from  the  observatory  through  the  Straits 
and  out  upon  the  ocean,  and  also  to  study  the  shores  of 
Europe  and  Africa  as  far  as  they  could  be  seen.  They 
traversed  the  galleries  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock  and 
armed  with  cannon,  and  were  specially  interested  in  St. 
George's  Gallery,  where,  just  previous  to  the  battle  of 
Trafalgar,  Lord  Nelson  was  banqueted  by  the  officers  of 
the  garrison.  Cape  Trafalgar,  where  Lord  Nelson  gained 
his  famous  victory    and  met  his  death,  is  not  far  from 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  1 5 

Gibraltar,  and  its  direction  was  pointed  out  to  the  youths 
by  the  sergeant  in  charge  of  the  observatory. 

As  the  steamer  came  in  front  of  Algiers,  Ned  and 
Harry  looked  at  the  place  with  great  interest.  Ned 
remarked  that  it  was  a  spot  of  white  on  a  green  stretch  of 
steep  hillsides,  and  Harry  endorsed  the  description  as 
a  good  one.  The  hillside  on  which  Algiers  stands  is  a 
steep  one,  and  the  houses  rise  one  above  another,  like  a 
series  of  terraces.  All  are  whitewashed  or  built  of  light- 
colored  stone,  and  as  the  hills  on  each  side  of  the  town 
and  back  of  it  are  generally  of  a  bright  green,  the  effect 
is  striking.  The  housetops  are  flat  and  have  high  curbs 
around  them.  These  housetops  are  the  lounging  places 
of  the  women  and  the  playgrounds  of  the  children,  and 
in  former  times,  before  the  French  conquest,  men  were 
not  allowed  there  until  after  sunset.  Consuls  were  exempt 
from  this  rule,  but  even  for  them  it  was  not  advisable  to 
go  very  frequently  to  the  housetops  in  daytime. 

Doctor  Whitney  met  several  friends  and  acquaintances 
in  Algiers,  some  of  whom  were  evidently  expecting  him, 
as  they  came  to  the  Hotel  d'Orient,  where  the  party  lodged, 
before  they  were  there  fifteen  minutes.  While  he  was 
busy  with  them  Ned  and  Harry  went  out  to  see  the  town. 

''  It  is  a  funny-looking  place,"  Ned  wrote  in  a  letter  to 
his  mother,  "  as  it  seems  to  be  about  half  European  and 
half  African.  There  are  blocks  of  houses  that  are  abso- 
lutely European  in  every  feature,  and  might  have  been 
taken  bodily,  so  we  are  told,  from  a  French  city.  The 
shops  in  those  blocks  are  all  French ;  the  keepers  are  all 
natives  of  France  or  their  descendants,  and  the  goods  they 


l6  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

sell  were  made  in  France  or  some  other  European  country. 
As  we  strolled  about  we  suddenly  stepped  from  the  French 
to  the  native  quarter,  and  it  was  done,  as  you  may  say,  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  Here  the  buildings  were  all  of 
che  Moorish  style  of  architecture, —  blank  walls  facing  the 
street  with  now  and  then  a  door  opening  upon  it.  These 
doors  are  always  small ;  some  of  them  stood  wide  open, 
and  we  tried  to  peep  in,  but  peeping  was  very  disappoint- 
ing, as  the  passage-way  from  the  door  makes  a  sharp 
angle  which  prevents  your  seeing  anything.  In  this  part  of 
the  city  nearly  all  the  people  that  we  saw  wore  the  native 
dress,  and  the  most  of  the  women  had  their  faces  covered 
with  veils. 

"The  shops  in  the  native  quarter  of  the  city  were  just 
as  Moorish  in  their  appearance  as  the  French  shops  were 
French.  They  are  generally  little  narrow  cubby-holes, 
about  six  or  seven  feet  wide,  and  as  many  deep ;  some  of 
them  are  so  small  that  the  shopkeeper  can  squat  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor  and  reach  every  article  in  his  entire 
stock  without  rising  to  his  feet.  Harry  remarked,  as  he 
stood  in  front  of  one  of  those  little  places,  that  there 
wasn't  room  enough  to  swing  a  cat  around  by  the  tail. 
We  thought  the  keeper  didn't  understand  English,  but  he 
did,  and  answered  :  — 

"'Me  no  want  to  swing  cat;  me  no  have  cat  for 
swing.' 

"We  heard  some  music  in  the  Great  Square,  or  Place 
de  la  Republique,  and  went  in  its  direction,"  continued 
Ned  in  his  letter.  "The  music  was  excellent,  and  was 
given    by   the    band    of    one    of    the    French    regiments 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  l7 

stationed  here,  but  we  were  much  more  interested  in  the 
crowd  than  in  the  music.  About  one  half  of  the  people 
were  in  European  dress  and  did  not  interest  us  particularly, 
but  the  other  half  was  made  up  of  various  tribes  and  peo- 
ple of  northern  Africa.  There  were  Arabs  and  Kabyles, 
who  live  among  the  hills  near  Algiers,  or  in  the  city  itself. 
The  Arabs  walked  about  with  a  great  deal  of  dignity, 
dressed  entirely  in  white,  including  their  heads,  which 
were  swathed  in  the  same  material.  They  evidently  con- 
sidered themselves  lords  of  the  land,  and  that  is  what  they 
were  before  the  French  conquest. 

"The  Kabyles  have  more  color  in  their  garments  than 
the  Arabs  have,  and,  instead  of  wrapping  their  heads  in 
white,  they  usually  cover  them  with  the  red  fez,  or  tar- 
boosh. Then  there  were  pure-blooded  negroes,  some  of 
them  natives  of  this  region,  and  others  who  were  origi- 
nally brought  from  the  far  interior  and  sold  as  slaves  in 
Morocco.  Slavery  is  not  permitted  in  Algeria,  and  the 
slaves  in  Morocco  know  it  very  well.  They  make  their 
way  over  the  border,  and,  though  sometimes  their  masters 
succeed  in  getting  their  human  property  back  again,  they  do 
not  as  a  general  thing.  There  was  a  considerable  number 
of  French  and  other  European  women  in  the  crowd,  but 
not  many  native  ones.  I  am  told  that  the  native  women 
here  are  quite  secluded,  though  not  so  much  so  as  in 
Turkey,  Morocco,  and  some  other  Moslem  countries." 

Doctor  Whitney  decided  to  make  his  departure  from 
Biskra,  which  is  at  the  end  of  the  railway  recently  com- 
pleted from  Constantine  to  that  point.  Biskra  is  to  the 
south  and  east  of  Algiers,  and  to  reach  it  the  party  jour- 


l8  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

neyed  eastward  to  Constantine  and  Philippville.  Twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years  ago  the  railway  was  completed  from 
Philippville  to  Constantine,  a  distance  of  some  sixty  odd 
miles.  There  is  some  fine  engineering  on  this  line  occa- 
sioned by  the  passage  of  the  railway  through  a  range  of 
hills.  It  was  among  these  hills  that  Jules  Gerard,  the 
famous  lion  hunter,  performed  many  of  his  exploits. 
When  Ned  heard  this  the  desire  seized  him  to  go  out  and 
shoot  a  lion,  but  he  was  dissuaded  from  so  doing  when  the 
doctor  told  him  that  they  could  not  spare  the  time  for  a  lion 
hunt,  and  besides  there  were  no  lions  to  be  found  there 
now. 

The  party  spent  three  or  four  days  in  Constantine,  the 
doctor  being  pretty  actively  engaged  in  purchasing  goods, 
tents,  provisions,  and  other  things  required  for  the  journey. 
As  fast  as  the  articles  were  bought  they  were  sent  forward 
to  Biskra,  where  the  goods  brought  by  steamer  from  New 
York  preceded  them.  On  the  fifth  day  the  party  took  the 
train  for  Biskra,  going  by  way  of  Batna,  a  modern  French 
town  built  on  the  ruins  of  an  old  Roman  one.  From  the 
windows  of  the  car  in  which  our  friends  rode  they  looked 
out  upon  the  ruins,  and  Ned  called  attention  to  a  monu- 
ment in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid,  about  twenty  feet  high. 

<*That  monument  has  a  curious  history,"  said  the 
doctor.  ''When  the  French  came  here  it  was  very  much 
dilapidated,  many  of  the  stones  having  been  throw^n  down 
and  scattered.  The  3d  French  Engineers  camped  here, 
and  its  colonel  set  the  men  to  work  collecting  the  stones 
that  belonged  to  the  monument.  An  inscription  showed 
that  it  was  to  the  memory  of  the  commander  of  the  3d 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  I9 

Roman  Legion,  who  was  buried  under  the  monument,  and 
the  stones  that  had  not  been  disturbed  were  taken  up,  one 
by  one,  until  the  coffin,  also  of  stone,  was  reached.  The 
lid  was  raised  and  the  skeleton  of  the  old  Roman  was 
found  undisturbed.  The  lid  was  immediately  replaced, 
and  then  the  monument  was  built  up  again,  every  stone 
being  carefully  restored  to  its  position.  When  all  was 
completed  the  French  colonel  turned  out  his  entire  regi- 
ment, marched  past  the  monument,  and  fired  a  salute  in 
honor  of  his  predecessor  of  two  thousand  years  ago." 

"  What  a  very  romantic  story,"  Ned  remarked  ;  *'  and 
what  a  sentimental  man  that  French  colonel  was  !  " 

*' Quite  true,"  said  the  doctor;  "and  I  can  tell  you 
another  story  of  the  same  sort.  We  shall  pass  through  a 
gorge  just  at  the  entrance  to  the  Sahara  where  there  is  an 
ancient  bridge  ;  it  was  quite  dilapidated  when  the  French 
came  here,  and  they  repaired  it.  On  the  wall  of  the 
gorge,  close  by  the  bridge,  there  is  an  inscription  in  Latin 
which  was  made  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  announc- 
ing that  the  bridge  was  built  by  the  3d  Roman  Legion ; 
underneath  it  is  an  inscription  in  French,  made  about  1850, 
which  says  that  it  was  repaired  by  the  3d  French  En- 
gineers." 

The  train  moved  on  beyond  Batna,  taking  a  general 
course  to  the  south.  The  youths  were  constantly  studying 
the  landscape,  first  on  one  side  of  the  train  and  then  on 
the  other,  and  calling  each  other's  attention  to  anything 
that  was  new  and  curious.  The  train  slowly  ascended  a 
gently  sloping  hillside,  and  on  reaching  its  summit  the 
pace  was  quickened  as  the  locomotive  began  the  descent. 


20  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

In  a  little  while  Harry  called  attention  to  the  scarcity  of 
vegetation ;  the  grass  was  in  little  tussocks,  small  bushes 
lined  the  banks  of  the  little  streams  or  the  dry  channels 
where  the  indications  were  that  streams  flowed  in  time 
of  heavy  rain,  but  there  were  no  trees  by  the  roadside,  and 
no  orchards  or  forests  were  visible.  After  this  had  con- 
tinued for  a  little  time  Ned  remarked  :  — 

"  I  wonder  if  we  are  not  in  the  desert  ?  " 

*'I  was  just  thinking  of  that  myself,"  said  Harry  in  a 
half  whisper  to  his  cousin.  "Just  look  at  those  mountains 
off  ahead  of  us  ;  there  isn't  a  tree  or  bush  on  any  of 
them  ;  they  are  as  barren  as  a  door-knob,  or  the  outside 
of  a  pitcher.  The  country  doesn't  look  so  very  different 
at  a  general  glance  from  what  it  was  further  north,  but 
when  you  take  it  in  detail  there's  a  great  difference." 

Ned  appealed  the  question  to  his  uncle,  who  informed 
them  that  they  were  already  in  the  desert,  and  had  been 
ever  since  they  passed  the  crest  of  the  ridge. 

"The  desert  began  there,"  said  he.  "The  little 
streams  that  you  now  see  flow  into  the  Sahara  and  are  lost 
there.  North  of  that  ridge,  in  the  region  called  The  Tell, 
the  streams,  such  as  they  are,  flow  into  the  Mediterranean. 
The  region  where  we  now  are  is  included  in  the  Sahara 
Basin,  although  it  is  not  in  the  desert  portion.  There  are 
a  good  many  places  between  here  and  Biskra  where  the 
land  is  fertile,  or  comparatively  so.  Rain  is  not  infre- 
quent in  these  regions,  and  where  the  land  is  so  situated 
that  the  water  doesn't  readily  flow  off  it  is  quite  produc- 
tive. 

Later  in  the  day  they  reached  El  Kantara  (The  Bridge), 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  21 

which  gets  its  name  from  a  famous  bridge  built  by  the 
Romans,  and  repaired  by  the  French,  as  already  stated. 
Here  there  is  a  gorge  through  which  a  small  river  flows, 
the  sides  of  the  cliff  being  nearly  precipitous.  Between 
the  river  and  the  side  of  the  gorge  there  is  barely  space 
enough  for  a  road,  and  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  dis- 
tance the  railw^ay  track  is  laid  in  a  niche  in  the  cliff.  As 
the  train  emerged  from  the  gorge  a  grand  transformation 
scene  was  presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  travelers. 

They  came  suddenly  upon  an  oasis,  the  first  oasis  in  the 
desert  as  one  descends  there  from  the  north.  Thousands 
upon  thousands  of  date  palms  grow  there  ;  the  water  for 
their  nourishment  being  diverted  from  the  river  as  it  comes 
out  of  the  gorge.  Ned  had  already  informed  himself  con- 
cerning date  palms,  and  so  he  assumed  the  position  of 
Mentor,  and  proceeded  to  enlighten  Harry  on  the  subject. 
Here  is  substantially  what  he  said  :  — 

"The  date  palm  cannot  exist  without  water,  and  the 
Arabs  say  that  it  must  have  its  feet  in  water  and  its  head 
in  the  fire.  A  hot  sun  and  a  cloudless  sky  are  necessary 
for  its  development,  and  it  must  have  an  abundant  supply 
of  water  at  its  root,  or  it  will  surely  die.  The  water  is 
brought  to  it  in  channels  or  water  courses,  and  sometimes 
carried  for  short  distances  in  goat  skins.  You  observe  as 
you  are  riding  along  that  there  is  a  trench  around  each 
tree ;  well,  they  put  a  barrel  of  water  in  that  trench  every 
other  day,  and  that  keeps  the  palm  tree  alive." 

*' Thank  you,"  said  Harry;  '^but  tell  me  where  the 
dates  grow." 

"  Oh,  the  dates  grow  in  that  bunch,  or  crown,  up  there 


22  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

at  the  top,  right  in  the  center  of  the  leaves.  The  Arabs 
take  great  pains  in  the  cultivation  of  their  date  palms,  and 
they  watch  these  clusters,  or  regimes,  as  they  call  them,  to 
prevent  any  possible  harm.  When  the  dates  are  ripening 
they  keep  watchers  among  the  trees  to  scare  away  the 
birds,  and  when  the  time  of  harvest  comes  they  are  very 
particular  to  collect  the  regimes  when  they  are  in  their 
best  condition." 

The  dark  green  of  the  oasis  made  a  marked  contrast  to 
the  yellow  hills  in  the  background,  and  presented  a  picture 
that  the  boys  were  not  likely  to  forget.  Long  after  they 
had  gone  beyond  the  oasis  they  continued  to  talk  about  it, 
and  wondered  when  they  would  see  the  next  one.  Dr. 
Whitney  overheard  them,  and  said  the  next  oasis  of  any 
consequence  was  at  Biskra,  and  they  anxiously  looked 
forward  to  their  arrival  at  that  point. 

On  and  on  sped  the  train  at  a  dignified  pace  of  not 
more  than  eighteen  miles  an  hour.  Ned  found  out  that 
it  was  an  express  train,  and  wondered  what  would  be  the 
speed  of  an  ordinary  one,  when  an  express  was  so  slow. 
He  asked  the  conductor  on  that  point  and  was  informed 
that  the  ordinary  passenger  train  went  only  ten  miles  an 
hour,  and  was  very  often  late  at  that. 

By  and  by  they  ascended  a  sandy  ^lope  and  at  its  top 
experienced  another  surprise. 

As  the  train  came  to  the  crest  of  the  ridge  it  paused  to 
take  either  breath,  water,  or  fuel,  or  for  some  other  pur- 
pose, so  Harry  explained.  As  the  youths  looked  from 
the  window  their  gaze  extended  over  a  low  plain  which 
stretched  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  with  a  horizon 


DEPARTURE    FOR    ALGIERS.  23 

like  that  of  the  ocean.  In  fact,  the  outspread  level  was 
wonderfully  like  the  ocean  or  a  great  lake  in  its  appear- 
ance ;  so  much  so  that  Ned  remarked  that  they  seemed  to 
have  reached  a  great  bed  of  water. 

**  You're  by  no  means  the  first  to  think  so,"  said  the 
doctor.  "Many  a  traveler  here  has  made  the  same 
remark,  and  when  the  first  French  expedition  to  spread 
the  conquest  of  Algeria  reached  this  point,  the  soldiers,  as 
fast  as  they  came  to  the  crest  of  the  ridge,  shouted  in  joy, 
''La  mer!   La  merl'  thinking  they  had  reached  the  sea." 

'*  I  don't  wonder  at  it,"  said  Harry  ;  *'  it  appears  won- 
derfully like  the  sea.  And  look  !  There  are  islands  dotted 
all  over  it.     I  suppose  those  must  be  oases,  are  they  not  ?  " 

"Yes,  they  are  oases,"  replied  Doctor  Whitney,  "  and 
they  make  the  illusion  perfect.  You  see  now  how  the 
desert  has  been  so  appropriately  called  "The  Sea  of 
Sand";  the  camel  is  the  ship  of  the  desert  because,  as 
natural  history  tells  you,  he  can  lay  in  provisions  and 
water  for  seven  or  eight  days.  He  looms  up  high  in  the 
air,  just  as  a  ship  does,  and  he  makes  long  voyages  from 
one  part  of  the  desert  to  another." 

Just  then  the  train  began  to  move  again,  and  the  doctor 
told  his  young  companions  that  they  might  consider  them- 
selves fairly  embarked  on  the  Great  Sahara. 

Biskra  was  in  full  view  from  the  ridge,  as  it  was  the 
nearest  oasis,  and  only  a  few  miles  away.  In  less  than 
half  an  hour  the  travelers  were  at  the  railway  station 
where  they  bade  farewell  to  locomotives  and  cars,  pre- 
paratory to  their  journey  where  railway  tracks  do  not 
abound. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A  REFRACTORY  MULE STARTING  FROM  BISKRA THE 

FIRST  CAMP. 

SO  impatient  were  the  youths  to  investigate  the  oasis 
that  they  suggested  that  they  would  walk  to  the 
hotel  from  the  railway  station,  instead  of  riding.  The 
doctor  assented  to  their  proposal,  but  suggested  that  they 
should  remain  at  the  station  until  the  baggage  had  been 
put  in  charge  of  the  courier  from  the  hotel  and  the  various 
pieces  indicated.  This  took  only  a  few  minutes,  and  then 
they  set  out  upon  their  stroll,  after  ascertaining  the  route 
to  the  hostelry  where  they  were  to  be  lodged  during  their 
stay  in  Biskra. 

They  passed  along  wide  avenues  and  streets  lined  with 
palm  trees  and  bordered  here  and  there  by  luxuriant 
gardens.  The  richness  of  the  vegetable  growth  in  the 
oasis  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  barren  desert  over 
which  they  had  traveled ;  and  both  Ned  and  Harry 
realized  that  it  was  this  contrast  between  the  two  that 
led  to  the  universal  praise  bestowed  on  oases  everywhere 
throughout  the  great  deserts. 

*'It  reminds  me,"  said  Ned,  "of  the  enthusiasm  of 
travelers  who  visit  Damascus  and  seem  to  become  half 
wild  over  the  abundance  of  its  waters.  I  never  fully  un- 
derstood it  until  I  remembered  that  Damascus  stands  in 

24 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  25 

the  desert,  and  those  who  visit  the  city,  especially  from 
the  eastward,  are  obliged  to  travel  long  distances  where 
there  are  neither  trees  nor  springs.  Consequently,  when 
they  reach  the  gates  of  that  ancient  city,  and  linger  in  its 
streets  and  houses,  they  appreciate  in  the  highest  possible 
degree  the  water  that  bubbles  in  every  courtyard  and 
flows  in  every  dwelling." 

**  This  is  a  pretty  good-sized  oasis,"  said  Harry,  *'  larger 
than  I  thought  it  was  ;  it  is  about  five  miles  long,  and 
more  than  two  miles  across  its  broadest  part,  contains 
100,000  date  palms,  and  has  a  considerble  portion  of  its 
area  laid  out  in  gardens  and  fields.  They  grow  three 
crops  a  year  in  the  gardens — at  least,  I  read  so  in  a  book — 
and  they  have  an  abundant  supply  of  water  all  the  year 
round." 

They  stopped  to  look  at  a  little  garden  where  two 
natives  were  at  work  under  the  supervision  of  a  French- 
man. It  turned  out  that  the  Frenchman  was  the  owner  of 
the  establishment  and  the  natives  were  in  his  employ. 
He  greeted  the  strangers  cordially,  and  seemed  very  glad 
to  meet  them  ;  he  was  evidently,  as  Ned  remarked, 
"loaded"  with  information,  and  hardly  waited  to  be 
"fired  off."  The  natives  were  engaged  in  watering  the 
garden,  and  the  boys  were  curious  to  see  the  process. 
Their  curiosity  was  quickly  satisfied,  as  the  whole  thing 
could  be  taken  in  at  a  glance. 

There  was  a  little  channel,  perhaps  about  six  inches 
wide,  coming  in  at  the  upper  end  of  the  garden  and  ad- 
mitting a  stream  of  water  which  flowed  into  a  tank.  The 
tank  was  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  long,  and  not  more  than 


26  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

two  feet  wide,  running  across  the  head  of  the  garden. 
From  this  tank  some  eight  or  ten  small  channels  were 
diverted,  and  they  carried  water  all  over  the  rest  of  the 
space.  These  channels  ran  in  parallel  lines,  so  that  the 
ground  on  either  side  of  them  was  kept  well  moistened, 
no  matter  how  hot  the  sun  might  be.  Ned  asked  how 
often  it  was  necessary  to  water  the  garden,  and  the 
Frenchman  replied  that  they  watered  it  three  times  a 
week  in  the  cooler  part  of  the  year,  and  every  day  in  the 
height  of  summer. 

**The  water  never  gives  out,"  said  the  Frenchman; 
*'  it  comes  from  a  great  spring  up  there  near  the  foot  of 
the  hill  where  you  see  the  fort.  It  is  hot  where  it  issues 
from  the  ground,  but  it  gets  cool  on  its  way  to  the  oasis." 

As  he  spoke,  he  pointed  to  a  low  hill  toward  the  north, 
about  two  miles  away  from  where  they  were.  Then  he 
went  on  to  tell  them  that  the  fort  they  were  looking  at 
was  built  hundreds  of  years  ago,  he  did  not  know  how 
many.  Before  the  French  conquered  Algeria  the  fort 
was  held  by  the  Turks.  They  were  not  on  pleasant 
terms  with  the  people  of  the  oasis,  but  the  latter  were 
quite  at  their  mercy,  and  were  compelled  to  do  whatever 
their  rulers  desired.  Whenever  the  Turkish  commander 
at  the  fort  made  a  demand  upon  the  natives  which  they 
refused  to  obey  he  proceeded  to  divert  the  water  of  the 
stream  into  the  desert,  cutting  it  off  from  the  oasis  ;  this 
never  failed  to  bring  the  Arabs  to  terms.  The  absence 
of  water  meant  death  to  their  palm  trees  and  gardens. 
The  pressure  was  so  great  that  it  could  not  be  resisted, 
and  they  speedily  ceased  their  resistance. 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  2*J 

**The  natives  of  this  part  of  the  country,"  the  man 
continued,  "  were  very  much  opposed  to  French  rule  and 
fought  hard  against  the  conquest.  Some  months  after 
v^e  had  captured  Biskra  they  formed  a  conspiracy,  rose 
one  night,  and  slaughtered  every  man  in  the  garrison,  but 
they  wouldn't  do  so  now.  They  have  prospered  under 
French  rule  more  than  ever  before,  and  would  be  very 
sorry  to  have  the  French  go  away.  One  thing  that  the 
French  have  done  since  they  came  here  has  endeared 
them  very  greatly  to  the  people,  and  that  is  the  boring  of 
artesian  wells  in  many  of  the  oases. 

'*For  a  long  time  before  the  French  Conquest  the 
supply  of  water  in  the  desert  had  been  gradually  growing 
less.  Several  oases  had  dried  up  and  died  altogether, 
and  the  inhabitants  were  driven  out  or  perished  by  starva- 
tion and  thirst.  Even  the  large  oases  were  diminishing 
in  size,  the  palm  trees  were  dying  out  gradually,  year  by 
year,  and  the  prospect  ahead  was  gloomy. 

*'The  French  commanders  were  men  of  intelligence. 
They  knew  that  this  part  of  the  Sahara  was  below  the 
level  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  believed  that  if  artesian 
wells  were  bored  they  would  brmg  forth  liberal  supplies 
of  water.  They  tried  the  experiment  in  some  of  the 
oases  that  were  drying  up,  and  found  it  successful,  and 
then  they  tried  it  on  a  larger  scale  in  some  of  the  greater 
oases. 

"The  most  successful  well  that  they  put  down  was  at 
Tuggurt,  about  two  hundred  miles  south  of  Biskra,  where 
a  vein  of  water  was  struck  and  gushed  forth  at  the  rate  of 
about  five  thousand   gallons  a  minute.     That  was  more 


28  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

than  forty  years  ago,  and  it  has  been  flowing  at  that  rate 
ever  since.  When  the  Arabs  saw  this  fine  stream  of  water 
they  went  fairly  wild  with  delight ;  celebrations  were  kept 
up  for  several  days,  and  the  invaders,  who  had  been 
despised  and  hated,  were  from  that  time  on  regarded  as 
friends  and  benefactors.  The  system  of  boring  these 
wells  was  carried  on  all  through  the  desert ;  the  drying 
up  of  the  oases  was  brought  to  an  end,  and  many  that  had 
been  abandoned  were  restored  to  life  again." 

The  attention  of  our  young  friends  was  directed  to  the 
spectacle  of  a  native  boy  climbing  a  date  palm.  Any  one 
who  has  seen  a  palm  tree  knows  that  it  is  without  branches, 
other  than  a  single  tuft  at  the  top,  the  leaves  being  cut 
away  as  the  stem  rises  from  the  ground,  so  that  in  ascend- 
ing a  tree  the  climber  has  nothing  to  which  he  can  cling. 
In  the  present  instance  the  boy  went  up  the  tree  with  great 
rapidity,  using  a  piece  of  rope  about  six  feet  long,  and 
with  a  knot  at  each  end.  He  passed  the  rope  around  the 
body  of  the  tree  and  then  grasped  it  at  both  ends,  flinging 
the  middle  of  it  as  high  in  the  air  as  he  could.  Then, 
pulling  it  taut,  he  lifted  himself  by  means  of  the  rope, 
placing  his  feet  in  the  notches  where  the  old  leaves  had 
been  cut  away.  By  pulling  the  rope,  he  went  up  two  or 
three  steps,  then  he  flung  the  middle  of  the  rope  up  again, 
and  repeated  the  process  of  moving  upward.  In  an 
astonishingly  short  time  he  was  at  the  top  of  the  tree,  and 
when  he  was  ready  to  descend  again  he  came  down  quite 
as  quickly  as  he  went  up,  and  in  the  same  manner. 

On  their  way  to  the  hotel  the  boys  went  through  the 
market  place.     The  market  of  Biskra  is  a  building  occu- 


'on  their  way  to  the  hotel  the   boys  went  through  the 

marketplace  " 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  29 

pying  the  greater  part  of  a  square  ;  it  stands  on  arches 
and  is  quite  open  in  the  interior.  The  articles  exposed 
for  sale  there  were  a  strange  medley  of  European  and 
African  products,  the  latter  predominating.  There  were 
dried  dates  in  great  quantities,  and  also  barley,  wheat, 
oats,  and  garden  vegetables  innumerable,  and  there  were 
live  fowls,  with  their  feet  tied  together,  in  great  numbers. 
The  climate  is  so  warm  that  dressed  fowls  are  less  desir- 
able than  live  ones,  owing  to  the  rapidity  of  decay. 
Sometimes  the  purchasers  take  the  birds  home  and 
slaughter  and  dress  them,  but  they  may  have  that  work 
performed  in  the  market  if  they  wish. 

Live  goats  and  kids  were  also  for  sale,  and  there  was  a 
limited  supply  of  beef  and  mutton.  The  butchers  do  not 
care  to  prepare  more  of  these  perishable  meats  than  they 
are  absolutely  sure  of  selling  in  a  single  day,  as  ice  is 
practically  unknown  at  Biskra,  and  the  little  that  is  made 
there  is  altogether  too  dear  for  general  uses.  Goatskins, 
camels'  hair  cloaks  and  blankets,  cotton  cloths  of  a  coarse 
variety,  and  other  goods  of  African  production  were  quite 
abundant.  French  and  English  cutlery,  iron  mongery, 
and  the  like  were  in  abundance,  and  in  some  of  the  shops 
the  variety  of  goods  was  equal  to  that  of  a  notion  store  in 
New  York  or  Philadelphia. 

The  people  in  the  market  place  were  quite  as  various  as 
were  the  articles  that  were  offered  for  sale.  Those  from 
Europe  were  nearly  all  French,  though  there  were  a  few 
Italians,  more  Hebrews,  two  or  three  Greeks,  half  a  dozen 
Maltese,  and  an  assorted  and  numerous  lot  of  natives  of 
the  country.     The  Arabs  were  the   most  numerous,  and 


30  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

the  variety  of  their  dress  showed  them  to  belong  to  differ- 
ent tribes.  The  demeanor  of  most  of  them  was  dignified, 
and  especially  that  of  some  men  who  were  said  to  be 
Tuaregs.  They  were  dressed  in  dirty  white  cotton  cloth, 
and  their  heads  were  thickly  covered  with  the  same 
material,  together  with  a  large  handkerchief  bound  tightly 
around.  The  appearance  of  these  men  was  so  striking 
that  it  was  the  first  thing  which  Ned  and  Harry  mentioned 
when  they  joined  the  doctor  at  the  hotel. 

The  doctor  answered  that  the  Tuaregs  were  nomads  of 
the  desert.  They  had  no  permanent  abiding  place,  but 
wandered  from  one  oasis  to  another,  covering  a  wide 
range  of  territory.  He  said  that  they  were  independent 
of  the  French,  or  any  other  authority,  and  did  pretty  much 
as  they  pleased ;  not  infrequently  they  had  sharp  fights 
with  the  French,  and  sometimes  came  off  victorious, 
though  generally  they  were  defeated  ;  not  from  any  lack 
of  courage  on  their  part,  but  owing  to  the  superiority  of 
French  weapons.  '*  From  our  point  of  view,"  said  he, 
*'  they  are  great  thieves,  and  are  very  much  given  to 
plundering  caravans,  which  they  regard  as  a  perfectly 
legitimate  and  honest  occupation.  They  are  somewhat 
averse  to  shedding  blood,  and  do  not  do  so  unless  pro- 
voked !  " 

Ned  asked  how  much  provocation  they  required  to 
induce  them  to  indulge  in  slaughter. 

''It  doesn't  take  a  great  deal,"  the  doctor  answered. 
"  If  a  party  of  individuals  or  a  caravan  is  attacked  by 
them,  and  makes  no  resistance,  allowing  the  Tuaregs  to 
plunder  without  restriction,  they  rarely  do  any  violence  to 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  3I 

the  travelers.  But  if  resistance  is  offered,  and  is  unsuc- 
cessful, these  desert  robbers  are  merciless,  and  slaughter 
all  who  have  opposed  them.  Some  travelers,  while  mak- 
ing their  way  through  the  desert  purposely  go  unarmed,  so 
that  if  they  encounter  a  band  of  Tuaregs  they  can  be 
robbed  of  all  they  have,  sometimes  even  all  their  clothing, 
and  then  permitted  to  go  on.  They  think  that  is  better 
than  running  the  risk  of  massacre." 

"Shall  we  follow  that  plan,  uncle?"  said  Harry,  as 
the  doctor  paused. 

The  doctor  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  said  quietly, 
but  iirmlv  :  — 

"We  shall  carry  some  weapons  with  us.  I  don't  pro- 
pose to  be  unresistingly  robbed  in  the  desert.  But  I  don't 
think  there  is  much  danger  of  our  being  disturbed,  as  the 
Tuaregs  are  at  present  on  very  good  terms  v/ith  the 
French,  and  no  raids  have  been  made  on  caravans  or 
other  traveling  parties  for  several  months." 

"  Let  us  hope  that  this  freedom  from  attack  will  con- 
tinue," said  Ned;  "  at  any  rate,  until  we  are  through  with 
our  journey." 

The  rest  of  the  day  was  spent  in  sight-seeing,  and  the 
next  morning  the  work  of  preparing  for  the  desert  was 
begun  vigorously.  The  doctor  had  engaged  two  men 
accustomed  to  desert  travel,  who  were  picked  up  at  Con- 
stantine  and  sent  in  advance  to  Biskra  to  secure  the 
necessary  camels.  Just  at  that  time  the  supply  of  camels 
was  not  large,  but  they  succeeded  in  buying  or  hiring  all 
that  they  needed,  both  for  saddle  use,  and  the  transporta- 
tion of  goods.     Most  of  the  articles  to  be  carried  on  the 


32  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

journey  were  in  packages  suitably  adapted  for  making  a 
load  for  a  camel,  but  the  majority  of  the  packages  needed 
rearrangement,  and  this  involved  the  hiring  of  additional 
men  who  were  accustomed  to  that  kind  of  work.  Doctor 
Whitney  was  quite  actively  employed  in  seeing  that  this 
business  was  properly  done,  as  he  felt  that  he  could  not 
trust  any  of  the  Arabs  to  do  it  exactly  as  he  told  them. 
In  the  latter  part  of  his  stay  he  employed  a  trusty  French- 
man, and  thus  lightened  his  own  labors. 

Ned  and  Harry  were  also  of  material  assistance  in 
keeping  an  eye  over  the  workmen  and  doing  other 
things.  They  found  it  difficult  at  first  to  make  themselves 
understood,  but  rapidly  picked  up  a  knowledge  of  Arabic 
sufficient  for  their  purpose.  After  a  few  days'  experience, 
Ned  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Arabs  were  the 
worst  liars  he  had  ever  seen ;  and  later  on  in  his  ex- 
perience he  said  he  had  found  no  reason  to  change  his 
mind. 

'' These  fellows,"  said  Ned,  "will  stand  up  and  lie  in 
the  most  unblushing  manner  imaginable,  and  they  lie,  too, 
when  they  know  they  will  be  discovered  in  a  very  few 
minutes.  For  instance,  I  asked  one  of  them  one  day  if 
he  had  filled  the  water-skins. 

"  '  I  filled  them  all,'  said  he,  '  and  put  them  on  the 
camels.' 

"  I  looked  towards  the  camels,  and  saw  that  not  one  of 
them  had  received  its  burden  ;  near  where  they  stood  were 
the  empty  water-skins  lying  on  the  ground. 

"  *  What's  that?'  I  asked  him,  pointing  to  the  empty 
water-skins. 


A  REFRACTORY  MULE.  33 


(( 


He  replied  that  those  were  the  skins,  and  when  I  told 
him  they  were  not  filled,  and  were  not  on  the  camels,  he 
made  no  reply.  I  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  lying  to 
me,  and  he  promptly  answered  that  he  would  have  filled 
the  skins,  but  had  no  time  to  do  it. 

*'  If  you  put  a  question  to  an  Arab,  and  he  knows  the 
answer,  he  may  possibly  give  it  to  you  correctly,  but  if  he 
doesn't  know  it,  he  will  give  you  the  first  reply  he  can 
think  of.  Ask  him  how  far  it  is  to  a  certain  place  which 
you  know  is  ten  miles  away ;  he  will  tell  you  it  is  a  mile, 
five  miles,  fifty,  or  even  a  hundred.  It  is  all  the  same  to 
him.  He  won't  admit  that  there  is  anything  that  he 
doesn't  know,  but  if  he  can't  tell  you  correctly  he  will 
jump  at  a  conclusion  with  an  air  of  the  most  serene  con- 
fidence." 

We  will  let  Ned  tell  the  story  of  the  starting  of  the 
expedition. 

*'The  men  that  the  doctor  engaged  at  Constantine 
belonged  to  one  of  the  northern  tribes  of  Arabs,  but  had 
traveled  so  much  in  the  desert  that  they  were  quite 
familiar  with  it.  Their  names  were  Selim  and  Ali ;  Selim 
was  an  accomplished  rogue,  and  Ali  was  another ;  we 
differed  in  opinion  as  to  who  was  the  worst,  but  either  of 
them  was  bad  enough.  As  long  as  we  stood  over  them 
they  did  fairly  well,  but  that  was  not  the  case  when  our 
backs  were  turned.  They  pilfered  quite  a  number  of 
things  out  of  our  stores,  and  Harry  and  I  wondered  that 
the  doctor  kept  them  as  long  as  he  did.  We  told  him  of 
various  instances  of  wrong-doing  on  the  part  of  these  men, 
to  which  he  answered  that  he  was  looking  for  substitutes 


34  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

with  which  to  replace  them,  and  had  apphed  to  the  French 
commander  to  aid  him. 

*'The  morning  before  we  were  to  leave  Biskra  three 
other  men  were  engaged,  and  Selim  and  Ali  were  sent 
back  to  Constantine  by  first  train.  One  of  the  new  em- 
ployees was  a  Frenchman  about  forty  years  of  age,  very 
active  and  energetic.  His  name  was  Jacques  Renaud ; 
he  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  French  cavalry,  and  after 
serving  his  time  had  decided  to  remain  in  Algeria,  instead 
of  going  back  to  France.  He  had  traveled  a  good  deal 
in  the  desert,  spoke  Arab  fluently,  and  was  a  thoroughly 
good  manager.  The  other  two  were  Arabs,  and  their 
names  were  Yusef  and  Abdallah.  As  Arabs,  they  were 
good  from  our  point  of  view,  as  they  were  not  nearly  as 
accomplished  in  lying  as  their  predecessors,  and  could 
be  relied  on  fairly  well,  especially  when  they  had 
Renaud's  eye  upon  them. 

**When  they  had  been  installed  in  office,  and  the 
others  had  been  sent  away,  Harry  and  I  understood  why 
Selim  and  Ali  were  kept  as  long  as  they  were.  Renaud 
and  his  two  companions  had  just  arrived  from  the  south, 
the  commandant  having  sent  for  them  ;  the  doctor  wanted 
the  work  of  preparation  to  go  on  while  waiting  for  them, 
and  so  he  made  use  of  the  best  tools  in  his  hands. 

*'We  were  delayed  somewhat  in  getting  our  cooking 
utensils  and  a  few  other  things.  The  price  of  water- 
skins  rose  in  the  market  as  soon  as  we  began  to  make 
purchases,  but  fortunately  the  supply  was  in  so  many 
hands  that  a  combination  was  not  affected,  and  the  ad- 
vance was  small.     Besides,  the  doctor  threatened  to  pur- 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  35 

chase  only  a  few  at  Biskra  and  wait  until  he  reached  a 
more  southern  oasis  before  completing  his  supply. 

*' These  water-skins  are  a  necessity  for  every  traveler 
in  the  desert.  They  consist  of  goat-skins  removed  as 
nearly  whole  as  possible,  and  then  carefully  sewn  up, 
except  at  the  neck  or  one  of  the  forelegs,  into  which  the 
water  is  poured  while  filling,  and  from  which  it  is  poured 
when  wanted.  They  are  also  made  from  pig-skins, 
which  are  stronger  and  more  durable  than  goat-skins,  but 
Moslems  have  an  objection  to  carrying  water  in  these 
receptacles,  as  they  consider  the  pig  an  unclean  beast. 
Some  African  explorers  have  carried  water  in  cans  made 
of  sheet-iron  or  other  metals,  the  advantage  being  that 
there  is  no  loss  by  evaporation,  as  there  is  when  it  is 
carried  in  skins  ;  but  the  disadvantage  of  the  cans  is  their 
weight,  their  liability  to  crack  at  the  joints,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  repairing  them  in  the  desert. 

*'For  the  first  part  of  our  journey  we  did  not  take  a 
large  supply  of  water,  as  the  oases  are  not  far  apart ; 
hence  our  ability  to  threaten  to  make  our  purchases 
elsewhere,  when  the  market  was  raised  upon  us.  The 
doctor  had  already  secured  consent  to  carry  weapons ; 
as  you  must  understand  that  no  civilian  can  carry  a  rifle 
or  revolver  in  Algeria  without  permission  of  the  authori- 
ties. There  was  no  trouble  whatever  on  this  score,  as  the 
objects  of  our  expedition  were  well  understood,  and  any 
authorization  that  we  wanted  was  to  be  had  for  the 
asking. 

*'  One  of  our  difficulties  was  the  purchase  of  horses  for 
riding    purposes.      We    visited    the    horse-market    every 


36  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

morning,  but  for  several  days  were  unable  to  find  any 
satisfactory  animals,  but  when  Renaud  joined  us  he 
settled  this  matter  very  promptly.  As  before  stated,  he 
was  an  old  cavalry  soldier,  and  was,  moreover,  thoroughly 
acquainted  in  Biskra.  He  hunted  up  some  horse-owning 
friends,  and  succeeded  in  getting  at  fair  prices  three  very 
good  animals.  We  did  not  expect  to  be  able  to  keep 
them  with  us  on  our  entire  journey,  but,  as  the  horse  is 
preferable  to  the  camel  for  riding  purposes,  we  desired 
to  put  off  the  evil  days  of  the  camel  saddle  as  long  as 
possible. 

"And,  now,  behold  us  one  bright  morning  setting  out 
from  Biskra  on  our  journey  into  the  Great  Sahara. 
Renaud  had  a  mule  for  his  private  riding,  and  a  sturdy 
beast  it  was.  It  had  the  characteristics  of  its  race  fairly 
well  developed ;  while  ordinarily  a  good-natured  and 
obedient  creature,  it  had  occasional  fits  of  stubbornness  that 
detracted  from  its  merits.  Every  hour  or  so  it  would 
stop  short  in  its  footsteps  and  could  not  be  moved  for  at 
least  five  minutes  by  any  kind  of  blows  whatever,  or  even 
by  building  a  fire  under  it.  At  the  end  of  its  period  of 
rest  it  would  go  forward  as  quietly  as  ever,  as  though 
nothing  had  happened. 

'*  Sometimes  it  would  allow  any  one  to  ride  close  up  to 
it  on  horse  or  camel,  while  at  others  it  would  kick  out 
spitefully  before  the  object  of  its  aversion  came  within 
reach.  Once  a  day,  at  least,  it  would  lie  down  on  the 
ground  —  always  when  its  rider  was  on  its  back  —  and, 
having  demonstrated  its  ability  to  lie  down,  would  rise 
again,  give  a  loud  bray,  and  go  peacefull}^  onward.     You 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  37 

could  never  tell  what  that  mule  would  do  next,  or  when  he 
would  do  it. 

"Sometimes,  after  along,  hard  day's  work,  it  would 
indulge  in  what  the  Arabs  call  a  '  fantasia,'  and  what  Harry 
denominated  a  *  general  circus,'  when  for  the  last  hour 
or  so  it  had  appeared  just  able  to  drag  one  foot  after 
another.  When  its  saddle  was  taken  off  it  seized  the 
opportunity  to  break  away,  make  a  circuit  of  a  mile  or  so, 
aimed  its  heels  at  the  moon,  if  that  orb  happened  to  be 
visible,  and  kicked  out  as  though  trying  to  hit  it.  It 
would  lie  down,  stand  on  its  hind  legs,  kick,  rear,  plunge, 
bray,  and  perform  every  other  mulish  antic  known  to 
science.  Then  it  would  come  back  to  its  owner  and  sub- 
mit to  be  picketed  where  it  belonged. 

"  Renaud  usually  led  the  procession  when  on  the 
march ;  we  three  explorers  followed,  and  then  came  our 
string  of  ten  camels,  laden  with  the  impedimenta  of  our 
expedition.  The  camel  with  the  water-skins  and  a  part 
of  the  provisions  was  the  first  of  the  string ;  then  came 
the  one  with  the  tents,  tent-poles,  cooking  utensils,  beds, 
and  our  personal  every-day  belongings.  The  third  in  the 
line  was  the  one  that  bore  the  scientific  instruments,  the 
ammunition,  and  spare  weapons,  and  the  others  were 
laden  with  cases  of  provisions,  and  also  the  presents 
intended  for  the  chiefs  of  the  tribes  through  whose  coun- 
tries we  were  to  pass.  The  drivers  of  the  camels,  who 
were  generally  the  owners,  walked  by  the  sides  of  their 
beasts,  or  mounted  on  top  of  their  loads.  Most  of  them 
did  the  former,  especially  if  they  happened  to  be  the 
owners  of  the  camels ;  in  their  case  was  exemplified  the 


38  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

truth  of  the  proverb,  '  A  merciful  man  is  merciful  to  his 
beast '  —  when  it  is  his  interest  to  be  so. 

"  Renaud  stayed  on  the  camping  ground  until  the  last 
camel  was  gone ;  then  he  carefully  went  over  the  place  of 
encampment  and  saw  that  nothing  had  been  left  behind. 
Having  performed  this  duty,  he  followed  the  procession 
until  it  was  well  out  of  Biskra,  when  he  spurred  up  his 
mule  and  came  to  the  front  of  the  column. 

"  Several  French  officers  and  civilians  with  whom  we 
had  become  acquainted  rode  out  with  us  for  three  or  four 
miles,  where  we  came  to  a  halt  for  a  few  minutes ;  there 
they  bade  us  good-by,  with  many  expressions  of  hope  for 
our  safety  and  success,  and  turned  back  in  the  direction  of 
Biskra.  We  moved  slowly  on,  occasionally  looking  back 
at  the  domed  buildings  which  glistened  white  among  the 
palm  trees. 

*' We  did  not  intend  to  make  a  long  march  on  the  first 
day;  in  fact,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  do  so,  how- 
ever much  we  had  wished  it.  The  camels  and  horses 
were  slow  to  settle  down  to  work.  The  horses,  in  particu- 
lar, were  hard  to  manage  and  indulged  in  more  or  less 
dancing  and  uneasiness  throughout  the  whole  day.  The 
camels  were  not  friendly  to  one  another,  and  were  fre- 
quently endeavoring  to  change  places,  much  to  the  con- 
fusion of  the  whole  procession.  One  of  the  loads  was 
not  properly  arranged  on  the  back  of  the  camel  that 
carried  it ;  it  worked  loose,  and  the  cases  were  just  begin- 
ning to  tumble  to  the  ground,  when  the  beast  was  stopped, 
and  compelled  to  kneel  while  his  burden  was  properly 
adjusted.     While  the  animal  was  on  the  ground  I  went 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  39 

up  to  his  head  and  tried  to  make  friends  with  him.  He 
rewarded  my  pains  by  a  vicious  bite,  which  I  narrowly 
escaped.  The  camel  is  not  a  good-natured  animal,  except 
to  his  master,  and  I  think  he  obeys  him  principally  through 
fear.  I've  heard  of  camels  showing  crreat  affection  for 
their  owners  and  the  members  of  their  families,  but  have 
never  seen  an  instance  of  it. 

*' There  is  a  strange  enmity  between  the  horse  and  the 
camel,  and  the  doctor  says  it  prevails  all  the  world  over. 
Whenever  we  tried  to  ride  past  our  string  of  camels  the 
horses  always  seemed  to  shrink  from  coming  near  their 
long-legged  and  long-necked  rivals,  and  if  a  horse 
happens  to  be  grazing,  and  a  camel  comes  near  him  so 
silently  that  he  is  not  perceived  until  close  at  hand,  the 
horse  will  jump  as  though  greatly  frightened.  Doctor 
Whitney  says  that  a  panic  can  easily  be  created  among 
horses  by  bringing  a  camel  into  their  midst,  and  he  men- 
tioned an  instance,  somewhere  in  the  New  England  States, 
where  a  horse  was  so  frightened  by  the  presence  of  a 
camel  belonging  to  a  passing  menagerie  that  he  stood 
for  a  minute  as  if  paralyzed  wdth  fear  and  then  fell  dead 
to  the  ground. 

"We  went  into  camp  very  early  on  the  first  day. 
Teats  were  spread,  one  for  ourselves,  and  one  for  the 
manager  and  his  crew ;  our  tent  was  fourteen  feet  by 
ten,  and,  though  a  little  cramped,  was  a  great  deal  better 
than  no  tent  at  all.  We  had  a  portable  table,  three 
camp-stools,  and  an  army  camp-chest  for  four  persons, 
as  we  expected  now  and  then  to  entertain  a  guest.  We 
had  heavy  water-proof  blankets  to  spread  on  the  ground, 


40  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

on  which  to  place  our  beds.  These  beds  were  long  sacks 
of  sheep-skin,  made  like  Bryan  O'Linn's  coat,  '  with  the 
wooly  side  in.'  The  lower  portions  of  the  sacks  extended 
a  yard  or  so  beyond  the  upper,  and  formed  a  bag  at  the 
upper  end,  in  which  we  placed  the  clothing  we  had  worn 
during  the  day  so  as  to  make  a  pillow,  and  as  the  pillow 
was  a  part  of  the  bed  it  was  impossible  for  any  one  to 
steal  it  from  under  the  owner's  head  while  he  was  sleep- 
ing. Altogether,  we  found  our  beds  very  comfortable ; 
they  would  have  been  more  so  if  they  could  have  been 
made  proof  against  fleas  and  other  small  but  active 
intruders. 

"Just  as  we  went  into  camp  we  saw  a  small  troop  of 
gazelles  away  on  the  eastern  horizon.  You  may  be  sure 
that  Harry  and  I  wanted  to  go  in  pursuit  of  them,  and  had 
it  not  been  for  the  doctor  we  should  have  done  so.  We 
had  rifles  at  our  saddle-bows  and  revolvers  at  our  waist- 
belts,  and  felt  that  we  would  certainly  bring  in  our  game 
if  allowed  to  pursue  it. 

"  '  It  would  be  all  nonsense,'  said  the  doctor,  '  for  you 
to  try  to  get  at  those  gazelles ;  they've  doubtless  been 
chased  by  the  Arabs  time  and  time  again,  and  would 
probably  enjoy  being  followed  by  two  foreigners  like 
yourselves.  You  couldn't  get  within  half  a  mile  of  them 
before  they  would  have  taken  flight.  Later  on  you'll 
have  a  chance  at  gazelles  where  they  are  not  so  wily  as 
they  are  here,  but  don't  waste  3^our  time  and  the  strength 
of  your  horses  pursuing  them  now.' 

''Thus  warned,  we  gave  up  the  chase  of  the  gazelles, 
but  we  did  have  some  hunting  experience,  notwithstanding. 


A    REFRACTORY    MULE.  4I 

Renaud  told  us  that  we  would  find  quail  in  some  scat- 
tered tussocks  of  grass,  which  he  indicated  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away.  We  exchanged  our  rifles  for  shotguns,  went 
in  the  direction  indicated,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of 
bringing  in  a  dozen  birds,  which  made  us  an  excellent 
supper.  In  due  time  we  went  to  our  beds,  where  we  were 
lulled  to  sleep  by  the  squealing  of  the  horses  and  other 
sounds  of  the  camp.  We  slept  soundly,  in  spite  of  the 
lack  of  spring-mattresses  and  other  luxuries  of  city  life, 
and  rose  in  the  morning  thoroughly  refreshed  and  ready 
to  begin  the  work  of  the  day." 


CHAPTER   III. 

SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT A    LION    HUNT. 

"  \\TK  had  no  occasion  to  draw  upon  our  supply  of 
V  Y  water,"  continued  Ned  ;  "  in  fact,  we  had  taken 
very  little  from  Biskra,  as  we  expected  to  find  water  at 
various  points  for  several  days.  Our  camp  on  the  first 
night  was  made  near  the  Oued  Biskra,  or  Biskra  River. 
At  that  time  it  was  a  small  brook  through  which  a  child 
might  wade  with  safety,  but  the  broad  and  worn  channel 
showed  that  it  was  not  always  in  that  condition.  During 
the  period  of  rains  it  swells  into  a  stream  of  considerable 
size  and  is  fordable  on  horseback  with  considerable  diffi- 
culty and  some  little  danger.  In  the  narrowest  places, 
in  times  of  flood,  the  current  is  very  strong  and  swift,  and 
a  horse  is  liable  to  be  swept  off  his  feet.  Wide  stretches 
of  the  river  are  then  sought  for  as  fording  places,  as  the 
water  is  shallow  and  the  current  gentle. 

*' There  was  considerable  delay  at  starting  the  next 
morning,  but  less  so  than  when  setting  out  from  Biskra. 
It  takes  three  or  four  days  to  get  everything  working 
smoothly,  and  sometimes  longer,  so  that  camp  can  be 
struck  and  the  caravan  put  in  motion  early.  The  camels 
were  loaded  and  the  march  began  in  fairly  good  time. 
Harry  and  I  offered  to  divide  some  of  the  work  with 
Renaud ;  that   is,  we  were  to  take   turns,   morning  after 

42 


SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  43 

morning,  in  going  over  the  camping  ground  to  see  that 
nothing;  had  been  left  behind.  We  thouorht  it  would  be  a 
good  piece  of  the  experiences  of  desert  travel,  and  add  a 
little  variety  to  our  occupation.  So  from  that  time  on  the 
work  was  laid  out  in  that  way,  but  on  nearly  every  morn- 
ing when  it  was  my  turn  to  inspect  the  ground  Harry 
remained  with  me,  and  when  his  turn  of  duty  came  I 
remained  with  him.  At  Dr.  Whitney's  suggestion,  Harry 
and  I  took  turns  in  keeping  the  journal  of  the  expedition, 
but  almost  every  day  the  doctor  added  something  to  what 
we  had  written  and  made  it  more  interesting.  On  the 
road  where  other  travelers  had  gone  before  we  did  not 
attempt  to  make  observations,  except  for  practice ;  hardly 
a  day.  passed  that  we  did  not  make  use  of  our  instruments, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  we  felt  entire  confidence  in 
being  able  to  find  our  latitude  and  longitude,  no  matter 
where  we  might  be. 

'*The  distance  from  Biskra  to  Tuggurt  is  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  miles  ;  we  travelled  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty  miles  a  day,  so  that  our  journey  lasted  five  days. 
For  a  considerable  part  of  the  way  the  ground  is  covered 
with  scrubby  bushes,  on  which  the  camels  feed.  They 
pick  up  most  of  their  living  while  traveling  along  the 
route,  browsing  here  and  there  on  the  shrubbery  as  they 
walk  along.  Naturally  they  make  slow  progress  when 
browsing,  and  we  became  somewhat  impatient  in  conse- 
quence, but  if  we  had  compelled  them  to  go  forward  with- 
out feeding  as  they  went  it  would  have  been  necessary  to 
feed  them  on  barley,  or  dates,  or  something  of  the  sort 
when  we  halted  for  the  night,  and  this  would  involve  buy- 


44  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

ing  and  carrying  those  articles  of  camel  food  which  are 
not  to  be  found  in  the  desert. 

"  We  had  some  bags  of  barley  for  the  horses'  feed,  and 
whenever  we  could  do  so  at  the  palm  oases,  we  bought 
dates  for  ourselves  as  well  as  for  our  horses.  Dates  are 
universal  food  in  the  desert ;  camels  grow  fat  on  them 
when  the  supply  is  sufficient  and  horses  do  likewise. 
Dogs  live  upon  dates,  donkeys  luxuriate  on  them,  and 
last,  though  not  least,  men  find  them  a  staple  article. 

**The  dates  of  the  Sahara  are  the  best  in  the  world, 
and  all  our  party  lived  largely  upon  them.  An  Arab  no 
more  gets  weary  of  living  upon  dates  than  an  East  Indian 
does  of  living  upon  rice.  The  white  man's  appetite  is 
more  variable  than  that  of  the  Arab,  but  even  he  does  not 
find  it  cloyed  very  easily  by  this  desert  food.  An  old 
adage  says,  *  Hunger  is  the  best  sauce,'  and  there  is  no 
place  where  this  ancient  saw  is  better  illustrated  than  in 
desert  travel.  The  pure  air  which  one  breathes  and  the 
exercise  of  travel  are  sufficient  of  themselves  to  create  a 
good  appetite,  and  whenever  food  of  any  kind  is  obtainable 
it  is  sure  to  be  welcome. 

*'  As  we  pressed  forward  towards  the  south  the  moun- 
tains to  the  north  of  Biskra  grew  dim  in  the  distance. 
Harry  and  I  wanted  very  much  to  visit  the  famous  salt 
mountain  which  lies  to  the  north  and  east  of  Biskra,  and 
is  one  of  the  five  mountains  of  salt  mentioned  by  Herod- 
otus. We  had  seen  it  on  our  way  from  Batna  to  Biskra, 
but  time  did  not  permit  our  making  a  journey  to  it.  For 
hundreds  of  years  it  has  been  a  source  of  supply  for  the 
Arabs,  and  now  that  the  railway  to  Biskra  has  been  com- 


SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  45 

pleted  it  will  probably  be  drawn  upon  by  the  French 
for  the  use  of  the  northern  part  of  Algeria. 

"It  is  what  its  name  implies, — a  mountain  of  salt,  a 
great  mass  of  bluish  rock-salt,  about  fifteen  hundred  feet 
high,  and  has  evidently  been  forced  up  frorn  below.  The 
salt  is  not  sufficiently  pure  to  be  used  on  the  table  without 
refining,  but  it  can  be  given  to  cattle  or  used  for  the  pre- 
servation of  meat  in  just  the  condition  that  we  find  it.  It 
is  at  the  end  of  a  range  of  lime-stone  mountains,  and  as 
we  looked  at  it  from  a  distance,  it  appeared  much  lighter 
in  color  than  its  neighbors.  With  the  sun  shining  upon  it 
at  a  certain  angle  from  the  observer,  it  sparkles  and  glis- 
tens so  that  a  credulous  person  might  be  led  to  believe 
that  it  was  a  mountain  of  diamonds  or  glass,  rather  than 
a  great  mass  of  very  commonplace  salt. 

*'I  think  it  was  about  fifty  miles  south  of  Biskra  that 
we  lost  sight  of  the  range  of  mountains  which  includes 
this  mountain  of  salt.  We  had  traversed  an  undulating 
plain,  which  suddenly  came  to  an  end  at  a  low  ridge,  from 
the  top  of  which  we  looked  upon  a  great  widespread  plain, 
which  is  known  as  the  plain  of  the  Oiicd  Ghir ;  off  to  the 
left  was  a  lake,  and  a  lake  of  considerable  size  it  was,  as 
it  is  nearly  200  miles  in  length.  This  lake  is  known  as 
Chott  Melghir.  The  Oued  Ghir,  or  Ghir  River,  is  a 
stream  similar  to  the  Oued  Biskra,  and  along  its  course 
are  several  chotts^  or  lakes,  which  it  connects  with  the 
great  one.  The  water  of  these  lakes  is  strongly  impreg- 
nated with  salt,  and  that  of  the  largest,  Chott  Melghir,  is 
more  salt  than  the  sea.  There  are  a  few  springs  of  sweet 
water  along  the  route  usually  traveled,  but  in  most  places 


46  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

water  is  obtained  from  artesian  wells  made  by  the 
French.  In  nearly  every  instance  the  water  thus  obtained 
nourishes  a  small  oasis,  which  either  existed  before  in  a 
partially  dried  up  condition,  or  has  been  wholly  created 
as  a  product  of  the  wells. 

"  In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  or  perhaps  a  little 
past  the  middle,  we  came  near  one  of  the  little  lakes  of 
the  Oued  Ghir,  and  saw  with  our  glasses  that  it  abounded 
with  ducks,  flamingoes,  and  other  aquatic  birds.  Harry 
suggested  that  it  would  be  well  to  encamp  in  that  neigh- 
borhood, and  thus  have  a  chance  at  duck  shooting.  The 
doctor  consented,  and  after  a  consultation  with  Renaud 
it  was  arranged  that  camp  would  be  formed  a  mile  or  two 
further  on,  and  Harry  and  I  could  start  off  immediately 
on  our  horses,  accompanied  by  an  Arab  on  foot,  to  try 
our  hands  at  duck  shooting. 

"  With  great  alacrity,  Harry  got  out  the  shotguns,  and  we 
started  off ;  when  we  were  about  half  a  mile  away  from 
the  lake  I  suggested  that  we  load  our  guns,  as  the  birds 
might  possibly  rise  and  fly  over  us.  As  I  said  so,  a  blank 
and  pained  look  came  over  Harry's  face,  and  I  asked :  — 

"  '  What's  the  matter,  Harry?  ' 

'''I  declare,'  he  answered,  'I've  forgotten  the  car- 
tridges.' 

"  'We  can't  shoot  ducks  without  cartridges,'  I  suggested. 
'  We  might  scare  them  and  make  them  fly  somewhere 
else,  but  that's  all.' 

"  '  Hold  on  a  bit,'  said  Harry.  '  I'll  ride  back  and  get 
them  ;  as  I  forgot  them,  it's  my  business  to  get  the  car- 
tridges here  as  soon  as  possible.' 


SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  47 

*'  Harry  rode  at  a  gallop,  and  in  due  time  (he  was  gone 
about  an  hour)  he  came  back  with  a  good  supply  of 
ammunition.  We  rode  as  near  the  edge  of  the  lake  as  we 
dared,  and  then,  leaving  the  horses  in  care  of  the  Arab, 
we  went  on  foot,  —  no,  not  exactly  on  foot,  but  on  all  fours, 
and  also  on  our  bellies.  There  was  a  fine  flock  of  ducks 
feeding  close  to  the  shore,  and  we  managed  to  get  within 
easy  range  of  them,  but  we  had  a  long  and  disagreeable 
crawl  to  do  so. 

"We  were  side  by  side  and  not  more  than  four  feet 
apart  when  Harry  whispered  to  me  to  get  ready. 

'*  '  You  aim  a  little  to  the  right  of  the  center  of  the 
group,'  whispered  Harry,  '  and  I'll  aim  in  the  same  way 
towards  the  left.  That  will  give  us  the  best  chance  of 
bagging  something.' 

*'  '  All  right,'  I  answered ;  *  give  the  word.' 

*'  *  Fire  ! '  said  Harry,  still  in  a  whisper,  and  our  guns 
banged  away. 

"  '  Give  'em  the  other  barrel  as  they  rise,'  said  Harry, 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  and  I  followed  him. 

*'  We  had  to  be  our  own  retrievers  ;  we  stripped  off  our 
clothing,  dashed  into  the  water,  and  managed  to  collect 
altogether  six  of  the  birds  of  the  pin-tail  variety.  I  do 
not  think  that  the  water  anywhere  was  more  than  a  few 
inches  above  our  knees,  so  that  we  ran  no  risk.  Harry 
suggested  that  possibly  there  might  be  alligators  in  the 
lake.  I  answered  that  I  had  never  heard  of  alligators  in 
that  section,  but  all  the  same  I  quickened  my  pace  in 
returning  to  the  shore,  and  so  did  Harry. 

**The  ducks  were  in    good    condition    and    served    us 


48  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

admirably  for  supper  and  breakfast.  The  pin-tail  duck  is 
not  the  best  of  his  kind,  but  the  doctor  remarked  that  he 
was  vastly  better  than  no  duck  at  all. 

"  '  In  other  words,'  added  the  doctor,  '  he  beats  nothinsr 
all  out  of  sight.' 

"From  hunting  we  naturally  turned  our  attention  to 
fishing,  and  a  fishing  excursion  in  the  lake  was  suggested. 
I  asked  Renaud  if  the  fishing  was  good  in  Chott  Melghir, 
or  in  the  smaller  chotts. 

'^  '  Oh,  yes,  ze  fishing  be  very  good ;  but  zer  be  no  fish. 
You  fish  and  fish  all  ze  da',  but  zer  is  nothing  for  you  to 
catch.' 

"Then  he  explained  that  there  were  no  fish  in  the 
chotts,  the  water  being  too  brackish  for  them.  He  said 
that  in  places  where  springs  of  pure  water  abounded 
small  fish  were  abundant,  but  nobody  seemed  to  care  for 
them ;  they  never  grow  to  a  respectable  size,  and  when 
cooked  are  decidedly  tasteless. 

"  By  the  time  our  duck  hunt  was  finished  and  we  had 
returned  the  camp  had  been  formed,  and  when  our  supper 
was  announced  we  were  quite  ready  for  it.  All  retired 
early,  as  everybody  was  tired  and  ready  for  sleep.  We 
had  hardty  settled  down  to  our  rest,  and  I  don't  think  I 
had  fairly  closed  my  eyes,  when  I  was  aroused  by  an 
unearthly  howl ;  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  close  to  the  camp, 
and  was  something  between  the  wailing  of  a  baby  and 
the  howl  of  a  dog.  I  sprang  up,  and  up  came  Harry  at 
the  same  moment.  The  light  had  been  extinguished,  but 
we  could  make  out  each  other's  forms  against  the  canvas 
of  the  tent. 


SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  49 

*'  *  What's  that  terrible  noise?'  I  said  to  Harry. 

''  *  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,'  he  answered. 

''  We  talked  in  a  whisper,  as  we  did  not  wish  to  disturb 
the  doctor,  who  appeared  to  be  sound  asleep ;  but  he 
wasn't  asleep  at  all,  as  the  sequel  proved.  At  our  question 
and  reply,  he  spoke,  without  moving  from  his  place,  and 
said :  — 

"'That's  all  right,  boys,  nothing  but  jackals.  Lie 
down  and  go  to  sleep.' 

"  'Thank  you,'  I  answered;  Harry  echoed  my  words, 
and  we  nestled  down  again  into  our  beds. 

"But  we  did  not  go  to  sleep  immediately;  the  noise 
continued,  and  it  grew  worse  and  worse  ;  it  seemed  to  me 
as  if  half  of  the  jackals  in  Algeria  had  gathered  there  to 
serenade  us.  I  guessed  that  there  were  twenty  of  them, 
at  least,  but  would  have  been  more  inclined  to  place  the 
number  at  fifty  than  at  twenty.  Renaud  told  us  the  next 
day  that  there  were  no  more  than  two  of  them,  and  the 
chances  were  even  that  it  was  only  a  solitary  jackal  w^hich 
had  made  all  the  disturbance. 

"The  jackal  abounds  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Sahara, 
and  how  he  lives  is  a  mystery.  He  hangs  around  the 
camps  of  the  caravans,  and  when  a  caravan  is  on  the 
march  there  is  usually  a  small  troup  of  jackals  following 
it  to  pick  up  any  extra  trifle  which  is  eatable.  Very  little 
comes  amiss  to  the  jackal ;  he  is  fond  of  fresh  steaks  and 
chops,  but  an  old  boot  or  shoe  is  acceptable,  and  he  fre- 
quently steals  a  man's  boots  from  under  his  head  at  night, 
if  they  have  been  so  placed  that  they  can  be  easily  taken 
away.     For  that  reason,  one  wants  to  place  his  boots  along 


50  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

with  his  day  clothing  in  the  bag  at  the  end  of  his  bed,  so 
that  the  unwelcome  visitor  will  have  to  make  a  great  deal 
of  disturbance  before  being  able  to  secure  anything.  If  a 
horse  or  camel  falls  and  dies  in  the  desert  the  jackals 
seem  to  spring  out  of  the  ground,  or  drop  from  the  skies, 
for  the  purpose  of  devouring  the  unfortunate  animal. 
They  even  begin  their  work  upon  him  before  he  is  fairly 
dead,  though  they  generally  wait  until  life  is  extinct  before 
proceeding  to  tear  his  flesh.  They  gather  in  such  numbers 
that  the  bones  of  the  unfortunate  beast  are  picked  clean  in 
a  very  few  hours.  If  he  has  the  opportunity  to  do  so, 
the  jackal  gorges  himself  to  such  a  degree  that  he  needs 
no  food  for  several  days  to  come. 

*'An  hour  or  so  before  daylight  the  noise  suddenly 
came  to  an  end,  and  there  was  a  lively  stamping,  and 
squealing,  and  tugging  at  their  tethers  on  the  part  of  our 
horses,  and  also  a  commotion  among  the  camels.  The 
whole  camp  was  aroused ;  all  three  of  us  were  awake, 
and,  slipping  on  our  clothes,  we  hastily  came  out  of  our 
tent  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  The  first  man 
we  encountered  was  Renaud,  who  was  trying  to  soothe  our 
horses,  that  were  evidently  very  greatly  alarmed.  We 
asked  him  what  was  the  matter,  and  he  answered :  — 

**  'A  Hon!  a  lion!' 

*'  Immediately  we  went  to  get  our  rifles,  determined  to 
give  a  warm  reception  to  any  lion  that  dared  to  enter  the 
camp.  I  remarked  to  the  doctor  that  it  would  be  just  as 
well  for  the  lion  to  remain  where  he  was. 

"*  There's  little  danger  of  his  coming  into  the  camp,' 
said  the  doctor,  '  now  that  we're  up  and  about.     He  will 


SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  5 1 

see  us  long  before  we  can  see  him,  and  will  be  pretty  sure 
to  keep  out  of  danger.  He  has  been  looking  out  for  a 
chance  to  jump  on  one  of  the  horses  when  everything  was 
quiet.  No  men  were  visible,  and  he  drove  the  jackals 
away  as  he  crept  near  us ;  that  is  what  caused  the  noise  to 
cease.' 

**  '  Then  the  howling  of  the  jackal  is  an  assurance  that 
no  danger  is  near ;   is  it  not?  '  questioned  Harry. 

*''Yes,  that's  so,'  said  the  doctor;  'as  long  as  you 
hear  the  howl  of  the  jackal  you  may  be  sure  that  there 
are  no  lions  about.' 

"  '  I  remember  now,'  said  Harry,  '  that  travelers  on  the 
western  plains  of  the  United  States  regard  the  wolves  as 
their  friends,  in  spite  of  the  depredations  they  commit. 
Wolves  come  near  the  camps  and  howl  all  night,  and  as 
long  as  the  howling  is  kept  up  the  travelers  know  that 
there  are  no  Indians  about,  but  if  it  stops,  it  indicates  that 
redskins  are  prowling  around  the  camp,  and  puts  the 
white  men  on  their  guard.  Evidently  the  jackals  are 
first  cousins  of  the  American  wolves,  and  serve  the 
traveler  in  the  same  way.' 

'''You're  quite  right,'  said  the  doctor;  'the  jackals 
here  take  the  place  of  the  American  coyotes,  and  their 
manners  and  habits  are  very  much  the  same.  But  keep  a 
sharp  eye  out ;  I  don't  believe  the  lion  has  gone  away  from 
us;  he  will  keep  up  his  watch  as  long  as  there  is  any 
chance  of  making  anything  by  it.' 

"  We  were  encamped  on  a  little  slope  of  ground,  so  that 
the  ridge  lay  between  us  and  the  eastern  horizon ;  at  the 
doctor's  suggestion,  we  spread  out  about  one  hundred  yards 


52  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

apart,  so  as  to  keep  the  ridge  in  view,  in  the  hope  that  the 
Hon  would  pass  along  it  and  thus  give  us  a  shot  at  him 
about  the  time  daylight  appeared.  He  was  an  accommo- 
dating lion  and  did  just  what  we  wanted.  When  the  first 
light  was  breaking  in  the  eastern  skies,  the  beast,  in  mak- 
ing a  circuit  around  the  camp,  crawled  along  the  top  of 
the  ridge,  and  the  keen  eyes  of  the  doctor  caught  his 
outline  defined  against  the  horizon.  Calculating  his  dis- 
tance as  well  as  he  could,  he  took  careful  aim  and  fired. 
There  was  a  loud  roar,  and  then  all  was  silent. 

"  Harry  and  I  quickly  came  to  where  the  doctor  stood. 
Of  course  we  suggested  that  we  would  go  immediately 
and  ascertain  the  result  of  the  shot. 

"  *  Wait  a  moment,'  said  the  doctor;  'don't  be  too 
hasty.  A  dead  lion  sometimes  comes  to  life  again  and 
makes  ugly  work  of  his  assailants ;  it  is  too  dark  yet  to 
make  anything  out  with  certainty.  We'll  wait  for  day- 
light before  we  make  an  investigation.  Meantime  take 
your  places  again ;  there  may  be  a  chance  for  another 
shot.' 

.  *'  '  We  went  back  to  our  places  and  resumed  our  vigil. 
Daylight  was  a  long  time  coming ;  it  seemed  to  me  that  it 
was  never  so  tardy  in  its  movements.  It  came  at  last  and 
gave  us  cause  for  rejoicing.  On  the  crest  of  the  ridge 
we  could  make  out  the  form  of  the  lion  lying  there, 
apparently  dead.  Renaud  offered  to  go  and  see  if  the 
creature  was  really  dead ;  provided  the  doctor  would  lend 
him  a  rifle,  which,- of  course,  he  readily  did. 

"  Renaud  cocked  the  weapon  and  went  forward  slowly 
and  cautiously.     He  said  he  had  hunted  the  lion  in  the 


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SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  53 

regions  of  the  Atlas  Mountains,  and  found  him  to  be  a 
beast  whom  no  man  could  trust. 

''  *  He  will  lie  apparently  dead,'  said  Renaud,  '  and 
when  you  go  up  to  him  and  prod  him  with  the  end  of 
your  rifle  he  springs  up,  gives  a  loud  roar,  and  jumps 
upon  you.  He's  never  to  be  trusted,  and  when  you 
approach  a  dead  lion  you  should  never  be  in  a  hurry.' 

'*  Renaud  asked  two  or  three  of  the  Arabs  to  go  with 
him,  but  they  all  declined,  saying  that  they  had  to  attend 
to  their  animals,  or  do  some  other  pressing  work.  So  he 
went  alone  and  found,  on  reaching  the  beast,  that  he  was 
quite  dead,  the  bullet  having  gone  through  his  heart.  We 
took  the  skin  of  the  lion  and  preserved  it  as  a  trophy, 
leaving  the  flesh  to  the  jackals.  Renaud  said  that  he  had 
eaten  lion  steaks,  and  they  w^ere  very  good  when  you 
could  get  no  other  kind  of  meat. 

*'The  lion  does  not  properly  belong  to  the  Sahara 
Desert.  He  inhabits  the  territory  north  of  the  Atlas 
Mountains,  and  was  quite  numerous  there  at  one  time,  as 
mentioned  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  volume.  He  wanders 
occasionally  into  the  northern  part  of  the  Sahara  Desert, 
but  whether  he  does  so  from  a  desire  to  see  more  of  the 
world,  or  to  satisfy  his  hunger,  no  one  can  say  positively. 
If  for  the  latter  reason,  he  would  do  better  to  stay  in  the 
Tell,  as  the  country  there  is  more  densely  populated,  and 
there  are  flocks  of  sheep  and  herds  of  cattle,  not  to  men- 
tion pigs  and  chickens,  on  which  he  can  live  very  com- 
fortably. He  commits  depredations  on  the  farms  of  the 
Arabs  and  French  settlers,  and  is  regarded  as  a  great 
nuisance.     The  French  Government  used  to  pay,  and  still 


54  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

pays,  a  bounty  on  his  head,  provided  he  is  killed  within 
the  limits  of  the  colony.  He  has  been  pursued  so  vigor- 
ously that  his  numbers  have  greatly  diminished,  and  there 
is  consequently  much  less  complaint  of  his  depredations. 

"  The  Arabs  entrap  the  lion  after  a  way  of  their  own, 
which  used  to  be  very  effective.  In  fact,  they  have  several 
ways  of  trapping  the  beast.  One  of  the  most  popular  of 
these  is  to  make  two  circles  of  stout  stakes,  one  within 
the  other.  In  the  space  enclosed  by  the  inner  circle  of 
stakes  a  kid  or  goat  is  fastened.  There  is  no  gate  through 
the  inner  circle,  but  there  is  through  the  outer  one,  and  it 
opens  inwardly. 

"The  lion  is  attracted  by  the  bleating  of  the  goat,  and 
after  approaching  the  circle  and  making  sure  that  there 
are  no  men  in  the  vicinity,  he  passes  through  the  gate. 
The  space  between  the  rows  of  stakes  is  just  enough  to 
admit  him  comfortably.  He  enters  and  passes  around 
the  circle,  and  when  he  comes  to  the  gate  he  pushes 
against  it  and  closes  it.  The  gate  has  a  self-acting  latch 
and  when  closed  it  fastens  itself.  By  the  time  the  lion 
passes  twice  around  the  circle  he  discovers  that  he  has 
been  trapped.  He  makes  desperate  efforts  to  escape,  but 
the  trap  is  so  constructed  that  escape  is  impossible.  He 
gives  vent  to  his  rage  by  terrific  howling,  thereby  notify- 
ing the  Arabs  of  his  capture.  They  come  with  spears, 
and  after  reviling  him  as  a  thief,  a  coward,  and  every- 
thing else  that  is  bad,  they  thrust  their  weapons  through 
the  outer  paling  and  despatch  him.  If  lions  are  numerous 
they  remove  the  carcass  at  once  and  set  the  trap  again. 

**  Another  mode  of  trapping  lions  is  to  dig  a  deep  hole 


SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  55 

in  the  ground,  and  set  in  the  bottom  of  it  a  row  of  stakes 
with  sharp  points  sticking  upwards.  The  hole  is  ten  or 
twelve  feet  square,  and  about  eight  feet  deep ;  it  is 
covered  with  a  light  layer  of  bushes  and  reeds  and 
a  kid  is  fastened  in  the  center  of  the  coverincr.  The 
covering  around  the  center  where  the  kid  is  tied  is  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  support  the  little  creature,  but  no 
stronger.  The  lion  is  attracted  as  in  the  other  case. 
When  within  a  dozen  feet  or  so  he  makes  a  sudden  spring, 
crashes  through  the  covering  of  the  pit,  and  goes  down 
upon  the  sharp  stakes  ready  to  receive  him.  He  is  usually 
impaled  by  them,  but  if  not  impaled,  it  is  impossible  for 
him  to  escape,  and  death  speedily  follows  his  discovery  by 
the  Arabs. 

*' There  was  no  use  in  our  going  to  bed  again,  for  the 
reason  that  it  was  very  near  our  usual  time  of  rising,  and 
even  had  we  gone  to  bed  the  excitement  of  the  morning 
would  have  prevented  us  from  getting  a  wink  of  sleep. 
So  we  told  Renaud  to  hurry  up  matters  as  much  as  he 
could  and  we  would  get  away  from  camp  in  good  season. 
We  breakfasted  on  the  ducks  which  were  left  over 
from  supper,  together  with  a  cup  of  coffee,  some  hard 
bread,  and  some  dates,  and  were  under  way  quite  early. 

"  On  this  day  we  came  among  the  sand  hills,  the  first 
of  them  being  quite  steep,  and  leading  the  way  over  a 
table-land  to  the  lower  ground  near  the  chotts.  The  air 
of  midday  was  very  hot,  but  the  heat  was  tempered  by  a 
cooling  wind  blowing  from  the  surface  of  the  lakes. 
Harry  and  I  were  very  much  interested  in  the  sand  hills, 
which  were  unlike  anything  we  had  before  seen.     They 


56  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

are  great  mounds  of  sand,  resembling  immense  hay- 
stacks, such  as  you  see  in  the  farmer's  field  in  the  sum- 
mer-time, except  that  their  sides  were  more  sloping,  and 
were  blown  by  the  winds  into  the  shape  in  which  we 
found  them.  They  are  not  very  close  together  as  we  first 
enter  their  region,  but  are  more  thickly  formed  as  the 
traveler  goes  further  south.  They  are  an  impressive 
sight  when  one  first  beholds  them,  but  get  very  tiresome 
as  time  and  the  traveler  go  on. 

"We  made  our  noonday  halt  at  a  little  oasis  contain- 
ing about  a  dozen  palms  and  a  small  spring  of  water. 
Our  horses  were  eager  to  reach  the  spring  and  seemed  to 
scent  the  water  a  good  mile  away.  Harry's  horse  and 
mine  had  a  kicking  match  as  we  neared  the  spring,  and  a 
match  that  was  very  inconvenient  for  us,  as  both  were  in 
the  saddle  at  the  time.  The  horses  let  out  freely  with  their 
hind  feet,  and  it  was  a  wonder  that  both  of  us  escaped 
injury  from  their  heels.  The  quarrel  did  not  last  long,  as 
we  used  our  best  efforts  to  get  the  animals  away  from  each 
other  as  soon  as  possible.  We  punished  them  by  com- 
pelling them  to  wait  for  water  until  all  the  other  animals 
had  had  their  fill,  but  whether  our  moral  instruction  had 
any  effect  on  them  I  am  unable  to  say. 

"While  riding  along  the  road  in  the  afternoon  I  got 
into  conversation  with  one  of  our  Arabs,  who  spoke  about 
as  much  French  as  I  did  of  Arabic,  and  in  the  combined 
languages  we  managed  to  get  on  very  well.  Somehow 
the  talk  drifted  around  to  the  Arab's  ability  to  tell  false- 
hoods, and  I  asked  him  how  he  accounted  for  it.  His 
answer,  which  I  will  render  into  commonplace  English,  in- 


SALT    LAKES    OF    THE    DESERT.  57 

stead  of  the  polyglot  in  which  he  gave  it,  was  about  as 
follows  :  — 

"  '  A  very  long  time  ago  the  Father  of  All  Evil  came  to 
the  earth  with  nine  bagfuls  of  lies.  There  had  never  been 
any  lying  before  in  the  world,  as  nobody  knew  how  to 
speak  anything  but  the  truth.  He  scattered  one  bagful 
over  Asia,  and  in  the  evening  came  to  Suez,  intending  to 
go  the  next  day  into  Africa,  and  after  that  into  Europe. 
While  he  slept  that  night  the  Arabs  stole  and  divided 
among  themselves  the  contents  of  the  other  eight  bags,  and 
that  is  why  they're  such  awful  liars  as  you  find  them.' 

"I  told  him  that  there  were  people  in  Europe  and 
America  who  did  not  always  tell  the  truth,  and  asked  him 
how  he  accounted  for  that,  if  His  Satanic  Majesty  had  lost 
all  his  stock  in  trade  in  the  manner  described." 

*' '  Oh,'  he  answered,  'there  have  been  a  good  many 
Europeans  and  Americans  traveling  in  Arabian  countries  ; 
they  must  have  picked  up  the  habit,  and  taken  it  home 
with  them.' 

*'I  thought  he  was  becoming  sarcastic  and  therefore 
changed  the  subject. 

"  We  spent  a  night  at  Maghais,  which  is  a  village  built 
of  sundried  bricks  and  surrounded  by  a  mud  wall.  There 
is  a  large  oasis  of  date  palms  close  to  it,  and  we  camped  at 
the  edge  of  the  oasis  and  close  to  the  village.  The  sheikh 
of  the  village,  on  learning  of  our  arrival,  sent  to  invite  us 
to  spend  the  night  at  his  house,  but  as  we  would  be  quite 
as  comfortable  in  our  tent  as  in  his  dwelling,  and  moreover 
wished  to  be  with  our  people  and  animals,  we  declined  his 
invitation. 


58  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

*'  Harry  and  I  wanted  to  accept  it,  out  of  curiosity,  but 
the  doctor  said  that  we  would  have  plenty  to  satisfy  our 
longings  in  that  direction.  If  we  had  stayed  with  the  sheikh 
he  would  have  shown  us  every  hospitality  that  his  house 
could  afford,  and  treated  us  as  guests  or  visitors.  When 
we  left  in  the  morning  he  would  have  expected  a  present, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  but  would  not  demand  it." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PHENOMENA  OF  THE  DESERT ARAB  HORSES. 

THE  party  made  a  good  start  from  their  camp  on  the 
following  morning,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
doctor  and  his  young  companions.  During  the  forenoon 
Ned  saw  with  his  telescope  some  flocks  of  ducks  resting 
in  the  water  of  a  chott  off  to  the  left  of  their  route  ;  of 
course  the  youths  wanted  to  go  in  pursuit  of  them,  but  the 
doctor  put  a  veto  on  their  proposal,  saying  that  it  was  too 
near  the  middle  of  the  day  to  make  any  violent  exertion, 
and  also  somewhat  hazardous  to  stray  from  the  line  of 
march  at  that  pardcular  time.  Furthermore,  the  ground 
between  them  and  the  lake  was  sandy  and  progress  over 
it  would  be  very  slow,  and,  also,  very  severe  upon  the 
horses. 

The  idea  of  the  duck  hunt  was,  therefore,  abandoned, 
and  the  line  of  march  was  not  broken. 

The  caravan  halted  a  little  past  noon  on  the  edge  of  a 
pond  which  looked  very  inviting,  but  the  water  proved  to 
be  too  brackish  to  be  palatable,  at  least,  for  men,  aUhough 
the  camels  and  horses  did  not  hesitate  to  drink  it. 

"We  came  in  sight  of  this  pond,"  said  Harry  in  his 
note  book,  "  from  a  high  sand  hill,  and  very  pretty  did  it 
appear,  surrounded  as  it  is  by  the  desert  sands  in  every 
direction,     The  banks  of  the  pond  are  fringed  with  rusnes 

59 


6o  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

of  a  brilliant  green  color,  and  nearly  one  half  of  its  surface 
is  covered  by  aquatic  plants.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  rich  green  of  the  vegetation  is  partly  due  to  the  con- 
trast of  the  surroundings.  If  the  pond  were  placed  in  the 
middle  of  a  grass-covered  prairie  it  would  have  appeared 
far  less  brilliant  than  we  found  it.  Renaud  told  us  that 
the  Arabs  call  it  "The  Diamond  in  the  Desert,"  and  I 
can  readily  understand  why  they  gave  it  this  fanciful 
name." 

So  inviting  was  the  scene  that  our  friends  were  unwill- 
ing to  leave  it,  but  the  rules  of  travel  required  them  to  do 
so  when  the  time  of  their  halt  had  expired.  The  horses 
had  improved  the  opportunity  to  refresh  themselves 
wherever  they  could  find  grass  for  doing  so,  as  they 
greatly  preferred  this  article  of  food  to  dried  barley.  The 
camels,  on  the  contrary,  did  not  care  particularly  for  grass 
and  continued  to  browse  on  the  bushes  which  overspread 
the  ground  here  and  there  as  if  struggling  for  existence. 

During  the  day  several  small  oases  were  passed,  and 
one  of  considerable  size,  called  Ourlana,  whose  existence 
is  largely  dependent  on  an  artesian  well  which  has 
steadily  poured  out  a  large  volume  of  water  ever  since  it 
was  bored.  There  was  a  village  on  the  side  of  the  oasis, 
but  our  friends  did  not  stop  there,  as  it  was  too  early  in  the 
day  to  form  camp.  They  pushed  on  several  miles  further 
to  Tamerna,  where  there  is  a  good-sized  village  built  of 
mud,  like  most  of  the  villages  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
Renaud  told  the  youths  that  they  would  find  in  the  center 
of  the  village  the  ruins  of  a  building  of  cut  stone  which 
was  supposed  to  date  from  the  time  of  the  Romans, 


t  i 


PHENOMENA    OF    THE    DESERT.  6l 

When  the  camp  was  formed  and  the  camels  had  been 
reHeved  of  their  loads,  Ned  and  Harry  rode  into  the  vil- 
lage to  inspect  the  ruin.  They  found,  as  Renaud  had  told 
them,  that  it  was  constructed  of  hewn  stone  and  must  have 
been  an  imposing  edifice  when  it  was  completed.  It  was 
circular  in  form  and  rested  on  arcades,  and  certainly 
everything  about  it  indicated  that  it  was  very  old. 

I  wonder  what  the   natives  say  about  it,"  said  Harry, 

or  if  they  have  any  traditions  as  to  its  origin." 

We  must  ask  Renaud  about  it  when  we  get  back  to 
camp,"  answered  Ned;  "  he  may  be  able  to  tell  us  some- 
th'incr  about  it." 

It  was  acjreed  that  Renaud  should  be  consulted  on  this 
point,  and  with  this  understanding  the  boys,  after  a  careful 
inspection  of  the  village,  rode  back  to  their  camping 
place. 

In  reply  to  their  questions  Renaud  said  that  he  had  in- 
terrogated the  natives  frequently,  but  could  never  learn 
anything  from  them. 

"  They  say  it's  old,  very  old,  and  that's  all  they  know 
about  it." 

Ned  and  Harry  fell  to  wondering  how  far  the  Romans 
had  pushed  their  conquest  into  Africa,  and  when  they  sat 
down  to  dinner  they  questioned  the  doctor  on  the  subject. 

''  I'm  unable  to  tell  you  exactly  on  that  point,"  the  doc- 
tor answered.  "  Roman  remains  are  found  in  this  part  of 
Africa,  two  or  three  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  and 
sometimes  at  greater  distances.  The  indications  are  that 
the  country,  two  thousand  years  ago,  was  more  productive 
than  it  is  now, —  that  is,  there  was  a  much  larger  supply 


62  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

of  water,  and  consequently  more  fertility  than  there  is  to- 
day. Many  dried  up  oases  are  scattered  about  and  a 
goodly  number  of  them  have  been  dried  up  for  a  very  long 
time.  You  have  seen  enough  to  convince  you  that  water 
is  everything,  and  without  it  no  living  thing  can  exist. 

"  With  an  abundance  of  water,  every  part  of  the  desert, 
with  the  exception  of  places  covered  by  shifting  sands, 
could  be  made  fertile,  and  a  great  many  projects  have  been 
formed  for  supplying  it.  It  has  been  proposed  to  make 
tunnels  at  certain  places  in  the  hills  and  mountains,  and 
bring  into  the  desert  rivers  which  now  flow  into  the 
Mediterranean,  but  the  volume  of  these  rivers  is  so  small 
that  it  would  not  reclaim  a  sufficient  amount  of  soil  to  pay 
the  cost  of  making  the  tunnels.  Another  plan  has  been  to 
cut  a  canal  from  the  Mediterranean  at  the  Gulf  of  Gabes, 
to  let  in  the  water  and  flood  the  desert  in  the  portion  that 
is  below  the  level  of  the  sea." 

*'I  should  think,"  Harry  interposed,  as  the  doctor 
paused,  "that  the  formation  of  the  lake  would  destroy  a 
good  many  oases  that  now  exist,  would  it  not?" 

**  Certainly  it  would,"  was  the  reply.  *' A  great  area 
on  which  there  are  productive  oases  would  be  flooded, 
some  of  it  to  the  depth  of  three  hundred  feet.  And  prob- 
ably the  fertility  caused  by  the  admission  of  the  water 
would  not  be  much  greater,  if  any,  than  the  amount  de- 
stroyed." 

*' I've  read  something  about  that,"  said  Ned.  *'The 
proposition  to  flood  the  low-lying  part  of  the  Sahara  was 
made  about  thirty  years  ago.  The  objections  to  it  were 
the  great  cost  and  the  doubtfulness  of  the  advantages  of 


PHENOMENA    OF    THE    DESERT.  6^ 

the  work.  It  was  also  feared  that  the  creation  of  a  lake 
here  in  Africa  would  change  the  climate  of  Southern 
France,  and  make  it  as  cold  as  Paris,  and  possibly  Berlin. 
The  Riviera,  as  the  southern  coast  of  France  is  called,  is 
warm  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  It  is  too  warm  there  in 
summer  for  comfortable  residence,  but  the  warmth  makes 
the  vegetation  push  with  great  vigor.  The  ground  is  very 
fruitful  and  fertile,  and  produces  abundantly.  The  win- 
ter climate  is  delicious,  and  many  thousands  of  people  go 
there  in  the  winter  for  health,  comfort,  or  pleasure.  With 
a  lake  created  here,  the  dry  and  warm  winds  that  blow 
over  the  Mediterranean  would  be  moistened  and  chilled, 
and  the  Riviera  would  lose  its  charms, —  at  least,  such  is 
the  fear,  and  I  don't  believe  the  French  will  be  in  any  hurrv 
to  create  that  lake." 

''  No  more  do  I,"  said  the  doctor;  *'  it  will  be  many  a 
long  year  before  they  undertake  it.  If  we  had  a  lake  here 
now  it  might  be  convenient  for  us,  as  we  could  load  our 
entire  train  on  boats  and  navigate  a  considerable  distance 
on  our  way  to  the  south." 

This  closed  the  dialogue  on  the  subject.  The  rest  of 
the  evening  was  passed  in  a  disjointed  conversation,  of 
which  we  have  no  record.  The  sleepers  were  not  dis- 
turbed either  by  jackals  or  lions  during  the  night,  nor  did 
the  villagers  intrude  themselves  upon  the  notice  of  the 
strangers. 

The  next  day's  march  was  a  trying  one  for  the  horses, 
as  the  sands  were  more  loose  and  shifting  than  any  that 
the  travelers  had  yet  encountered.  The  camels  got  along 
much   more    easily   than    the    horses,    as    their   feet   are 


64  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

adapted  to  traveling  in  loose  sands.  The  camel's  foot  Is  a 
somewhat  ill-shapen  mass  of  spongy  material,  with  claws 
or  toes  upon  it  which  seem  to  be  set  very  carelessly  in  the 
soft  material.  When  lifted  in  the  air  the  foot  collapses, 
and  somewhat  resembles  a  closed  fist.  When  it  goes  down 
upon  the  ground  it  spreads  and  covers  a  considerable  sur- 
face. A  novice,  looking  at  the  foot,  would  be  justified  in 
believing  that  it  would  go  to  pieces  in  the  next  hour  or 
two,  but  it  doesn't  do  anything  of  the  sort ;  it  goes  on  and 
on,  and  by  spreading  out  it  supports  its  owner  to  some 
extent  on  the  surface  of  the  sand,  where  the  small  and 
hard  hoof  of  the  horse  sinks  into  it.  Thus  it  is  that  camels 
walk  with  ease  where  horses  go  with  great  difficulty. 

Both  the  youths  tried  to  get  on  amiable  terms  with  their 
steeds,  but  they  found  that  the  animals  were  not  inclined 
to  form  new  friendships  very  easily.  Harry  talked  to  his 
horse,  telling  him  that  he  ought  to  be  proud  of  being  an 
Arab  steed,  which  was  reputed  to  be  the  finest  kind  of 
horse  in  the  world. 

''  You  are  not,"  said  Harry,  "  the  sort  that  we  see  in 
pictures,  bounding  over  the  ground  with  a  white-clad  rider 
on  your  back,  and  going  faster  than  the  wind  can  blow, 
and  the  pictures  of  Arabian  steeds  that  we  have  in  books, 
do  not  resemble  you  one  bit.  But  never  mind  a  trifle 
like  that ;  vou're  an  Arabian  horse  nevertheless,  and  we'll 
take  good  care  of  you  as  long  as  you  take  good  care  of 
us." 

The  horse  responded  to  these  endearments  by  endeavor- 
ing to  lie  down  and  roll  his  young  rider  in  the  sand,  but 
the  latter  pulled  on  the  bridle,  and  in  other  ways  convinced 


PHENOMENA  OF  THE  DESERT.  65 

the  animal  that  it  was  not  the  proper  place  just  then  for 
lying  down. 

In  the  deepest  sands  Harry  and  Ned  dismounted,  and 
in  trying  to  walk  they  realized  what  laborious  work  it  was 
for  their  poor  steeds.  The  doctor  suggested  that  after 
leaving  Tuggurt  they  would  alternate  between  horses  and 
camels,  and  when  they  next  moved  out  of  camp  they 
would  have  saddles  placed  on  the  camels  and  be  ready  to 
occupy  them  when  necessary. 

In  the  afternoon,  on  rising  to  the  crest  of  a  sand  ridge, 
they  beheld  Tuggurt  standing  out  conspicuously  on  the 
brow  of  a  hill,  its  domes  and  turrets  forming  a  marked 
contrast  to  the  deep  green  of  the  mass  of  palm  trees  be- 
yond it.  As  before  stated,  the  oasis  of  Tuggurt  contains 
four  hundred  thousand  date  palms,  and  a  considerable 
area  is  occupied  by  gardens.  These  gardens  produce 
three  crops  a  year  of  pumpkins,  melons,  carrots,  beans, 
lentils,  beets,  and  similar  products  of  the  soil.  Great 
attention  is  given  to  their  cultivation,  and  the  abundance 
of  never-failing  water  with  which  the  place  is  supplied 
makes  the  gardens  a  sure  reliance  for  their  owners. 

The  horses  and  camels  of  our  friends'  caravan  seemed 
to  realize  that  they  were  approaching  a  resting  place  w^hen 
they  neared  the  white  walls  of  Tuggurt.  Ned  declared 
that  his  horse  pricked  up  his  ears  and  looked  wistfully 
towards  the  gate,  and  his  actions  were  imitated  by  the 
other  horses.  All  three  of  them  quickened  their  steps,  and 
the  camels  did  likewise,  but  whether  they  were  simply 
following  the  example  of  the  horses  or  were  acting  on 
their  own  account  the  youths  were  unable  to  determine. 


66  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

The  doctor  suggested  that  the  animals  were  probably  in- 
cited by  the  smell  of  the  good  things  abounding  in  the 
oasis,  and  also  that  they  had  quite  likely  been  there  before 
and  were  reviving  their  recollections.  Ned  asked  Yusef's 
opinion  on  the  subject,  but  the  wily  Arab  was  decidedly 
non-committal  in  his  answer. 

Renaud  took  the  camels  to  the  camping  ground  outside 
the  town,  and  close  to  the  edge  of  the  oasis,  while  the  three 
travelers  passed  through  the  gateway,  and  entered  within 
the  walls.  There  was  quite  a  crowd  at  the  gate,  and  Ned 
remarked  that  it  was  a  very  mixed  one.  He  was  unable 
to  classify  the  various  people  with  exactness,  but  noticed 
that  the  faces  of  the  Arabs  were  generally  of  a  darker  hue 
than  those  he  had  seen  in  the  regions  north  of  the  Atlas 
Mountains.  This  state  of  affairs  was  natural  enough,  in 
view  of  the  higher  temperature  of  the  Sahara  and  the 
blinding  and  dazzling  rays  of  the  desert  sun.  There  were 
negroes,  Jews,  and  other  varieties  of  people,  and  their 
costumes  were,  on  the  whole,  made  up  of  brighter  colors 
than  those  of  Biskra  or  Constantine. 

Immediately  after  entering  the  gate  the  party  passed 
through  the  market-place,  which  was  at  that  time  deserted  ; 
going  there  the  nex*t  morning,  they  found  it  full  of  people 
who  seemed  to  be  actively  engaged  in  doing  very  little. 
Merchandise  was  piled  on  the  ground,  and  many  of  the 
stocks  in  trade  were  very  small. 

*' There  were  negro  and  Arab  women,"  Ned  wrote  in 
his  journal,  "sitting  behind  little  piles  of  cucumbers, 
melons,  carrots,  and  other  vegetables  whose  e^^'^p  value 
could  not  have  been  more  than  twenty-hve  cents.     The^ 


PHENOMENA    OF    THE    DESERT.  6*] 

seemed  indifferent  as  to  whether  they  made  a  trade  or  not, 
and  if  they  sold  out  their  entire  stock  they  were  supremely 
happy.  Harry  and  I  went  to  the  market,  accompanied  by 
Yusef,  partly  out  of  curiosity,  and  partly  with  the  inten- 
tion of  buying  some  carrots  for  our  horses.  We  found  the 
merchandise  that  we  wanted,  and,  for  a  franc,  sent  Yusef 
back  to  camp  with  as  many  carrots  as  he  could  carry.  We 
were  told  that  the  prices  of  commodities  are  usually  left  to 
the  dealers,  but  whenever  any  large  caravans  arrive,  and  es- 
pecially a  military  detachment,  the  natives  take  advantage 
of  the  circumstances  and  demand  exorbitant  prices  ;  then  the 
government  steps  in,  regulates  the  tariff,  and  placards  it 
everywhere  in  French  and  Arabic.  The  prices  fixed  by  the 
government  are  a  trifle  higher  than  the  ordinary  rates,  and 
thus  everybody  is  satisfied ;  or,  at  any  rate,  the  purchaser 
is  and  the  seller  is  obliged  to  be." 

''Tuggurt  has  a  population  of  about  seven  thousand 
natives,"  continued  Ned,  "but  only  a  few  dozen  of  for- 
eigners, exclusive  of  the  military  garrison,  which  usually 
consists  of  about  two  hundred  men.  The  officers  are 
almost  invariably  French,  and  most  of  them  have  one  or 
two  French  soldiers  as  personal  servants.  The  rank  and 
file  of  the  garrison  consist  of  Turcos  and  Spahis,  who 
are  recruited  from  among  the  natives  of  the  northern  part 
of  Algeria. 

"The  different  varieties  of  inhabitants  in  Tuggurt 
have  their  own  particular  quarters  in  the  city.  There  is 
an  Arab  quarter,  a  Jewish  quarter,  and  a  negro  quarter, 
and  some  of  these  are  again  sub-divided.  There  is  a 
large  colony  of   Hebrews  which  has  been  there  for  hun- 


68  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

dreds  of  years ;  its  members  are  famous  throughout  the 
Sahara  as  the  best  jewelers  and  workers  of  gold  and 
silver.  We  visited  their  workshops  and  found  them  so 
numerous  as  to  occupy  two  or  three  streets. 

*' Their  mode  of  working  is  very  primiti^ve,  and,  in 
view  of  the  tools  they  use,  the  products  they  turn  out  are 
really  marvelous.  A  few  pliers  and  other  things  known 
everywhere  to  the  jeweler  suffice  for  manipulation. 
Each  shop  has  its  furnace,  which  is  generally  a  box 
twelve  or  fifteen  inches  square,  filled  with  earth,  having 
two  stones  placed  upon  it.  On  one  side  is  the  fire,  and 
on  the  other  the  bellows  that  keeps  up  the  blaze.  The 
bellows  consists  of  a  goatskin  with  the  legs  tied  tight  and 
the  head  inserted  between  the  stones.  The  hinder  part 
of  the  goatskin  is  open,  and  by  means  of  two  sticks 
which  are  attached  to  it  a  boy  manipulates  the  bellows 
and  keeps  up  a  respectable  blaze. 

"The  jewelers  seemed  quite  indifferent  as  to  whether 
we  bought  anything  or  not,  and  some  of  them  kept  on  at 
their  work,  not  attempting  to  show  their  goods  or  even 
deigning  to  look  at  us.  We  went  to  their  synagogue, 
which  was  a  tumble-down  sort  of  a  building,  just  back  of 
their  quarter  of  the  city.  Service  was  going  on  at  the 
time,  and  seemed  to  be  a  very  perfunctory  sort  of  busi- 
ness. Evidently  there  is  not  much  education  among 
these  Hebrews  of  Tuggurt,  as  very  few  of  them  speak 
anything  but  Arabic,  and  most  of  their  rabbis  do  not 
understand  the  Hebrew  that  they  read  in  the  service ; 
they  go  through  it  by  rote,  just  as  a  parrot  goes  through 
the  sentences  that  he  utters. 


PHENOMENA  OF  THE  DESERT.  69 

*'  In  another  part  of  the  city  there  is  a  small  colony  or 
sect  of  sixty  or  seventy  families,  whose  features  are 
entirely  Jewish.  They  have  light  complexions,  and  in 
many  cases  blonde  hair,  but,  instead  of  adhering  to  the 
old  Jewish  religion,  they  are  all  Moslems,  and  devout 
ones,  too.  They  are  said  to  be  Hebrews  who  settled  here 
hundreds  of  years  ago,  and  adopted  the  Moslem  religion, 
with  the  Koran  as  their  Bible.  They  are  not  very  clear 
as  to  their  history,  but  claim  that  they  came  here  long 
before  the  people  who  inhabit  the  Jewish  quarter.  They 
never  intermarry  with  any  other  sect,  tribe,  or  people, 
and  never  show  an  inclination  to  wander  about  the  coun- 
try. They  are  known  as  the  Beni  Mansour,  and,  taken 
for  all  in  all,  they  are  a  singular  people." 

The  travelers  decided  to  remain  a  few  days  at  Tuggurt, 
partly  to  rest  the  animals,  as  well  as  themselves,  and, 
partly  for  completing  their  stock  of  supplies,  in  view  of 
the  long  and  hard  journey  they  had  before  them.  Dur- 
ing their  halt  the  youths  looked  about  the  city  and  the 
surrounding  regions,  and  diligently  kept  up  their  jour- 
nals. 

They  visited  the  principal  mosques  of  Tuggurt,  and 
Ned  made  note  that  there  were  twenty  mosques  in  all, 
some  of  them  well  preserved,  and  some  in  a  very  ruinous 
condition.  One  of  these  which  was  tottering  to  decay  has 
a  sad  history.  It  belonged  to  the  Mozabites,  a  tribe  of 
enterprising  and  peace-loving  people  of  whom  we  shall 
have  more  to  say.  The  Mozabites  at  one  time  occupied  a 
third  of  the  city  of  Tuggurt,  and  the  principal  commercial 
business  of  the  place  was  in  their  hands.     All  the  other 


70  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Arabs  hated  them  and  their  branch  of  the  Moslem  reH- 
gion.  A  httle  less  than  two  hundred  years  ago  a  con- 
spiracy was  formed  against  the  Mozabites,  and  one  day, 
while  they  were  worshipping  in  their  mosques  and  were 
without  arms,  the  others  fell  upon  them  and  slaughtered 
them  down  to  the  last  man.  Since  that  time  no  Mozabite 
has  lived  in  Tuggurt,  and  the  mosque  where  this  people 
once  worshipped  has  fallen  to  decay. 

The  youths  visited  the  Great  Mosque,  which  is  on  one 
side  of  the  square,  and  is  a  handsome  stone  building  with  a 
tall  tower  distinct  from  the  building  itself.  A  curious  orna- 
ment of  the  building  is  a  large  German  clock  which  stands 
by  the  side  of  the  pulpit  and  has  Arabic  figures  on  its 
dial  plate.  The  dome  is  handsomely  ornamented  and  the 
interior  of  the  building  is  a  line  specimen  of  tile  work. 
Our  friends  were  considerably  surprised  to  find  such  a 
handsome  building  so  far  in  the  desert,  and  still  more 
surprised  to  find  that  portions  of  it  are  supposed  to  be 
more  than  one  thousand  years  old. 

The  extent  of  the  oasis  and  the  great  number  of  date 
palms  in  it  give  it  an  enormous  production  of  dates.  Great 
quantities  of  these  are  consumed  in  Tuggurt  and  the  sur- 
rounding regions ;  what  is  left  after  the  local  demand  is 
satisfied  is  shipped  to  more  distant  markets.  Part  of  the 
exportation  is  by  camels  in  the  direction  of  Tunis,  while 
the  rest  go  to  Phillipville,  whence  they  are  shipped  to 
Marseilles  and  other  Mediterranean  ports.  The  French 
Government  talks  of,  pushing  the  railway  further  into  the 
desert,  and  if  this  should  be  done  it  will  not  be  many 
years  before  it  reaches  Tuggurt ;  then  there  will  be  a  great 


PHENOMENA    OF    THE    DESERT.  7 1 

demand  for  the  dates  of  the  Sahara,  which  are  among 
the  best  in  the  world. 

There  are  a  good  many  marshes  and  small  lakes  around 
Tuggurt,  and  they  are  generally  swarming  with  aquatic 
birds  of  various  kinds.  Ned  and  Harry  went  out  on  a 
shooting  expedition,  but  found  the  birds  so  wary  that  they 
failed  to  bag  anything.  They  wondered  at  the  shyness  of 
these  birds  as  compared  with  the  tameness  of  the  ducks 
that  they  shot,  as  already  mentioned,  until  Ned  happened 
to  think  that  probably  the  French  officers  were  fond  of 
hunting  and  kept  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  lakes 
and  marshes  in  a  constant  state  of  watchfulness. 

Harry  dropped  on  a  bit  of  information  which  struck  him 
as  rather  curious.  While  walking  through  the  market, 
one  day,  accompanied  by  Renaud,  the  latter  called  his 
attention  to  the  carcasses  of  dogs,  neatly  skinned  and 
dressed,  and  hung  up  for  sale. 

"Surely  those  can't  be  dogs,"  said  Harry,  "as  the 
Moslems  consider  the  dog  an  unclean  beast  and  wouldn't 
eat  him.  " 

"  I  don't  know  who  eats  this  meat,"  said  Renaud,  "  but 
one  thing  is  certain,  and  that  is,  they  fatten  dogs  here  just 
as  they  might  fatten  sheep  or  pigs,  and  sell  them  in  the 
market.  I've  known  Frenchmen  to  eat  them  as  a  substi- 
tute for  mutton,  which  is  very  scarce  and  dear  all  through 
this  country.  I've  been  told  that  the  Mozabites  ate  dogs  ; 
an3^way,  they  are  not  as  straight-laced  as  the  ordinary 
Moslems,  and  perhaps  it  was  on  that  account  that  they 
were  slaughtered  in  their  mosque,  which  you  know- 
about.  " 


72  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Ned  made  some  observations  in  regard  to  the  water 
supply  through  the  region  of  which  Tuggurt  is  the  center. 
In  regard  to  it,  he  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

"There  is  no  river  and  hardly  a  stream  worthy  the 
name  of  brook  in  all  the  Oued  Ghir  district,  which  meas- 
ures about  one  hundred  miles  each  way.  There  are  not 
many  natural  springs,  but  all  over  it,  or,  rather,  under  it, 
there  seems  to  be  a  stratum  that  never  fails  to  yield  water. 
For  hundreds  of  years  they  have  been  obtaining  water  all 
through  this  district  on  a  principle  almost  identical  with 
that  of  the  artesian  well.  The  way  they  do  it  is  very 
simple ;  they  dig  a  hole  in  the  ground  about  eighteen 
inches  in  diameter,  just  large  enough  for  one  man  to  be 
lowered  down  by  means  of  ropes  under  his  armpits.  He 
puts  planks  at  the  sides  of  the  hole  as  he  descends  so  as  to 
prevent  the  earth  from  falling  in  upon  him.  With  a  rude 
spade  in  his  hand  he  manages  to  dig  up  the  earth  at  the 
bottom,  and  shovels  it  into  a  basket  to  be  hoisted  up. 
When  he  finds  the  soil  beginning  to  moisten  he  gets  ready 
for  a  sudden  flow  of  water,  and  a  half  dozen  strong-armed 
men  station  themselves  at  the  top,  ready  to  pull  him  up 
rapidly  when  the  signal  comes.  By  and  by  he  strikes  his 
spade  down  and  the  water  gushes  forth  as  from  the  hose 
of  a  fire  engine.  As  quickly  as  possible  he  is  drawn  to 
the  top,  but  so  great  is  the  rush  of  water  that  not  infre- 
quently the  man  is  drowned  before  he  can  reach  the  sur- 
face." 

All  preparations  having  been  made,  and  three  new 
camels  added  to  the  caravan,  our  friends  once  more  took 
up  their  line  of  march  to  the  south.     Doctor  Whitney  was 


PHENOMENA    OF    THE    DESERT.  73 

true  to  his  promise,  and  the  new  camels  were  equipped 
with  saddles  for  riding  purposes.  The  youths  found  that 
the  camel  saddle  is  materially  different  from  the  saddle 
used  on  the  horse,  and  Ned  thus  describes  it :  — 

"  It  is  a  sort  of  dish  in  which  you  sit;  there  is  a  high 
pommel,  which  is  quite  small  as  it  starts  from  the  edge  of 
the  dish  and  enlarges  as  it  goes  upwards.  It  is  ten  or 
twelve  inches  high  and  very  convenient  to  hang  things 
upon,  and  also  for  the  novice  to  hang  on  to.  The  camel 
is  made  to  kneel  and  after  you  get  securely  in  your  place, 
crossing  your  legs  around  the  pommel,  and  holdit;ig  on.  to 
it,  the  signal  is  given  for  the  beast  to  rise.  Rising  is  a 
jerky  piece  of  business,  as  the  camel  gives  a  lunge  for- 
ward, then  backward,  then  forward  again,  as  though  he 
would  shoot  you  out  from  your  place.  When  he  gets  on 
his  feet  you  can  take  breath,  and  as  long  as  he  stands  still 
breathing  is  not  a  matter  of  difficulty,  but  when  he  starts 
forward  you  realize  painfully  that  you  are  not  on  the  back 
of  a  horse.  Walking  is  endurable,  and  barely  so,  as  it  is 
a  kind  of  corkscrew  motion,  which  sends  you  forward  and 
backward,  over  and  over  again,  as  long  as  the  animal  is  in 
motion.  But  when  he  quickens  his  pace  to  a  trot,  then  — 
Oh  !  my  ! 

"Imagine  that  you  are  being  tossed  in  a  blanket,  or 
mounted  on  the  back  of  a  genuine  American  bucking 
horse ;  you  are  tossed  up  and  down  until  it  seems  as 
though  every  joint  in  your  body  was  disjointed,  and  every 
vertebral  bone  had  set  up  for  itself  and  made  a  per- 
manent secession  from  the  rest.  We  only  rode  our  camels 
for  an  hour  or  so  on  the  first  day,  and  were  so  stiff  that 


74  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

night  that  we  had  hard  work  undressing  and  getting  to 
bed.  But  there's  nothing  hke  being  used  to  a  thing  ;  the 
Arabs  spend  the  greater  part  of  their  Hves  travehng  over 
tlie  desert,  and  they  are  no  more  disturbed  by  the  motion 
of  the  camel  than  we  are  by  that  of  a  railway  car." 

The  first  town  of  consequence  on  the  route  of  our 
friends  was  Temacin,  about  fifteen  miles  to  the  southwest 
of  Tuggurt.  On  the  way  to  it  and  not  far  from  Tuggurt, 
the  caravan  passed  near  a  salt  lake  whose  borders  were 
covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  rushes  and  other  aquatic 
plants,  and  whose  surface  was  well  stocked  with  water- 
fowl.  Harry  and  Ned,  accompanied  by  Yusef,  renewed 
their  shooting  experience  at  this  lake,  and  with  better 
success  than  at  Tuggurt,  as  they  brought  in  four  ducks, 
which  were  fat  and  plump  and  made  an  excellent  dinner 
for  themselves  and  the  doctor. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DESERT      GARDENS HUNTING      THE      LEOPARD      AND      OS- 
TRICHES. 

WHILE  on  the  route  in  the  afternoon,  our  friends 
met  a  party  of  some  fifteen  or  twenty  natives,  who 
were  not  at  all  prepossessing  in  appearance.  Some  were 
on  foot  and  some  rode  upon  camels.  Eight  or  ten  of 
them  had  matchlock  or  flintlock  guns,  and  the  others 
had  pistols  whose  butts  protruded  at  their  waists.  They 
seemed  to  be  surveying  the  caravan  and  balancing  in 
their  minds  whether  it  was  worth  their  while  to  at- 
tack it.  Evidently  they  did  not  like  the  appearance  of 
the  breech-loading  rifles  carried  by  our  friends,  as  they 
went  on  in  silence,  making  no  demonstration  either  of 
hostility  or  friendship.  Renaud  spoke  to  one  of  them,  but 
the  conversation  was  brief.  As  soon  as  the  strangers  had 
passed,  Ned  asked  Renaud  who  and  what  they  were. 

"They  are  Chaamba,"  said  Renaud,  with  an  angry 
toss  of  his  head  in  their  direction. 

"  And  they're  evidently  not  the  kind  of  people  we  want 
to  know,"  said  Ned. 

"Yes,"  replied  Renaud;  "we  don't  want  to  know 
them  at  all ;  they  are  robbers  and  live  by  robbery  or  very 
nearly  so.  Just  now  they  are  too  near  the  French  lines 
to  make  any  serious  trouble,  though  if  we  had  been  a 

75 


76  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

small  party  and  unarmed,  they  would  not  have  hesitated 
about  plundering  us.  I've  been  in  their  hands  two  or 
three  times,  and  the  circumstances  were  such  that  I 
couldn't  hit  back.  They  robbed  me  of  everything  I  had 
except  the  clothes  on  my  back,  and  sometimes  they  don't 
even  leave  a  man  anything  to  cover  himself  with.  They 
lie  in  wait  at  the  side  of  the  road,  where  they  can  conceal 
themselves  in  the  brushwood,  and  spring  upon  you  sud- 
denly. The  man  that  I  spoke  to  I  recognized  as  one  of 
those  who  plundered  me  two  or  three  years  ago ;  I  don't 
know  whether  he  recognized  me  or  not." 

''  They  don't  acknowledge  the  French  authority,"  con- 
tinued Renaud,  ''  and  the  most  of  their  depredations  are 
carried  on  further  to  the  south  where  they  are  not  subject  to 
the  authorities  of  Algeria.  They  have  sense  enough  to 
know  that  if  they  invade  French  territorj^  and  commit  out- 
rages within  the  lines,  they  would  be  subject  to  severe 
punishment." 

*'  It  wouldn't  be  very  easy  to  punish  them  when  they 
haven't  any  fixed  living  places,  but  simply  wander  around 
the  desert,"  Ned  remarked.  '*  The  French  troops  sent 
out  to  punish  them  would  have  a  very  hard  time  finding 
them." 

''  That's  true,"  Renand  answered,  '*  and,  as  they  know 
the  desert  perfectly,  they  have  hiding  places  that  only 
themselves  know  about.  When  pursued  they  scatter  in 
all  directions,  and,  of  course,  the  troops  can't  do  that. 
The  way  to  punish  them  most  easily  is  to  arrest  every 
Chaamba  whenever  he  sets  foot  in  French  territory.  They 
like   to   come    in   to    the   French    posts    occasionally   to 


DESERT    GARDENS.  77 

purchase  goods  of  various  kinds,  and  would  feel  the 
deprivation  if  they  were  totally  excluded." 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  we  are  putting  Renaud's 
language  into  grammatical  English,  instead  of  a  very 
broken  sort  which  he  used  in  conversation,  and,  at  times, 
was  barely  intelligible.  Hereafter  throughout  this  volume 
we  shall  follow  the  same  plan,  with  possibly  a  few  excep- 
tions. 

The  caravan  halted  for  the  night  near  a  small  oasis  of 
about  one  hundred  palm  trees.  The  oasis  was  nourished 
by  a  spring  of  brackish  water,  which  Harry  said  was 
excellent  to  bathe  in,  but  not  very  palatable  as  a  beverage. 
A  village,  consisting  of  three  or  four  Arab  families,  was 
not  far  from  the  spring,  on  a  little  knoll  which  overlooked 
the  tillable  ground.  Ned  and  Harry  went  to  the  village, 
where  they  succeeded  in  purchasing  a  supply  of  eggs,  and 
endeavored,  without  success,  to  negotiate  for  a  pair  of 
chickens.  The  owners  refused  to  part  with  their  fowls, 
giving  as  a  reason  for  their  refusal  that  if  they  sold  their 
flocks  they  would  not  have  eggs  to  dispose  of  to  strangers. 
The  youths  accepted  the  argument,  and  expressed  them- 
selves satisfied  with  obtaining  the  eggs. 

As  they  came  away  from  the  village  Harry  remarked 
that  it  seemed  almost  universally  the  custom  of  the  natives 
to  put  their  towns  and  villages  on  the  barren  ground  out- 
side of  an  oasis,  and  rarely  within  the  limits  of  the  palm 
trees. 

"  I  suppose,"  replied  Ned,  "  it  is  because  the  land  is  so 
valuable.  They  can't  afford  to  waste  a  single  inch  of 
ground  on  which  anything  will  grow,  and  for  this  reason 


78  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

they  reserve  all  of  the  tillable  earth  for  the  purpose  of  cul- 
tivation, and  build  their  houses,  villages,  and  towns  on  the 
barren  or  desert  soil.  They  are  certainly  very  wise  in  so 
doing,  in  view  of  the  high  value  placed  upon  the  tillable 
portion." 

Later  in  the  evening  the  subject  was  mentioned  to 
Renaud,  who  corroborated  Ned's  view. 

"I  wish,"  said  Renaud,  "that  you  could  see  some  of 
the  places  where  the  Arabs  have  established  their  gardens 
in  the  region  called  the  Souf.  There's  a  good-sized  town 
in  it,  which  covers  a  large  area  of  ground  and  contains 
altogether  about  live  hundred  houses,  and  there  are  several 
smaller  towns  like  it  in  the  district.  The  houses  are  not 
close  together,  as  in  ordinary  towns,  but  are  scattered  over 
a  large  area  of  ground,  so  as  to  bring  them  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  gardens  that  belong  to  their  owners.  The 
place  is  on  a  level  plain,  and  by  going  down  from  thirty  to 
eighty  feet  in  the  sand  moist  earth  is  always  found,  and 
in  this  earth  gardens  and  date  palms  are  planted.  As 
you  approach  it  you  see  the  tops  of  the  palm  trees  rising 
above  the  ground,  and,  as  you  are  too  far  away  to  make 
out  the  gardens,  you  think  it  is  an  immense  growth  of 
very  low  and  thinly  scattered  palm  trees.  When  you  get 
to  it  you  wonder  at  the  patience  of  the  people  who  created 
them." 

"  But  how  is  that?  "  Ned  asked. 

"Why,"  replied  Renaud,  "  eacn  garden  is  nothing 
more  than  a  great  hole  scooped  out  of  the  ground,  rarely 
less  than  thirty  feet  deep,  and  sometimes  more  than 
seventy ;  all  depending  upon  its  position  in  the  plain.     All 


DESERT    GARDENS.  '  79 

around  the  place  is  nothing  but  the  desert  of  loose  sands ; 
the  walls  of  the  pits  are  sloping,  as  they  can't  afford  to 
build  them  with  cut  stone,  and  each  garden  contains  from 
twenty  to  fifty  palm  trees.  Among  the  trees  fine  crops  of 
carrots,  turnips,  melons,  onions,  tobacco,  and  other  vege- 
tables are  raised,  and  they  grow  very  luxuriantly,  yielding 
three  excellent  crops  every  year." 

*'Is  the  soil  moist  enough  to  sustain  the  trees  of  the 
gardens  without  watering?"  queried  Harry. 

''  Oh,  no,  not  by  any  means,"  was  the  reply,  *'  every 
garden  contains  a  well  which  is  from  twenty  to  forty  feet 
deep.  The  water  of  these  wells  is  unfit  to  drink,  as  it  con- 
tains too  much  salt,  but  it  answers  the  purposes  of  the 
natives.  The  vegetables  that  I  spoke  of  are  watered  every 
day,  and  the  palm  trees  twice  or  three  times  a  week. 
They  draw  the  water  from  the  wells  in  buckets  made  of 
leather,  and  sometimes  where  the  wells  are  deep  they 
make  use  of  a  long  pole  balanced  near  the  center,  like  the 
old-fashioned  well-sweep  which  you  have  seen  in  America. 
Every  day  attention  must  be  paid  to  the  watering,  or  the 
gardens  would  dry  up  and  be  unproductive." 

''  What  a  vast  amount  of  work  it  must  require  to  make 
one  of  these  gardens,"  Ned  remarked,  "  and  what  steady 
industry  to  keep  up  the  never-failing  supply  of  water." 

*' Yes,  that's  true,"  said  Renaud,  ''  and  I  haven't  told 
you  all  by  any  means." 

"  Why,  what  else  can  there  be?  "  Ned  asked. 

"I  mentioned,"  said  Renaud,  "that  the  place  was  in 
the  midst  of  the  desert,  where  the  shifting  sands  are 
carried    about   by    the    winds.       The    sand   is    constantly 


8o  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

drifting  according  as  the  wind  blows,  and,  no  matter 
which  way  it  blows,  it  carries  the  sand  over  the  town. 
Every  morning  the  owner  of  a  garden  must  carefully  re- 
move all  the  sand  that  has  rained  in  upon  his  place  during 
the  last  twenty-four  hours.  His  watchfulness  in  this 
matter  must  be  as  great  as  the  watering  of  his  growing 
trees  and  vegetables.  Let  him  neglect  it  for  a  few  days, 
and  the  garden  which  has  caused  years  of  work  to  make 
will  become  again  a  part  of  the  desert. 

"For  miles  and  miles  around  the  sand  is  so  barren 
that  no  living  things  can  exist,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  jackals  and  little  foxes  that  roam  among  the  gardens 
and  live  upon  birds,  which  are  quite  abundant.  The 
natives  encourage  the  presence  of  the  little  animals  which 
are  called  fenneks  by  the  Arabs ;  and  many  of  them  keep 
tame  fenneks  about  their  houses.  The  birds  are  trouble- 
some, as  they  attack  the  dates  while  they  are  ripening,  so 
that  the  natives  are  quite  willing  to  be  deprived  of  their 
society.  A  stranger  who  is  fond  of  bird  shooting  is 
always  welcome  there,  and  the  more  birds  he  gets,  the 
better  the  natives  are  pleased." 

Ned  asked  if  the  fennek  was  found  anywhere  else  in 
Algeria,  to  which  Renaud  replied  in  the  affirmative. 

''It  is  found  in  many  parts  of  the  Sahara,"  he  con- 
tinued, "and  I  wonder  we  haven't  seen  any  before  this. 
Come  to  think  of  it,  I  did  see  one  in  a  cage  at  Tuggurt, 
but  you  were  not  with  me  at  the  time.  However,  we'll 
be  likely  to  run  across  one  before  long,  and  if  you  want  to 
bother  yourself  with  a  pet  while  traveling  you  can  easily 
buy  one." 


DESERT    GARDENS.  8 1 

Ned  was  at  first  inclined  to  invest  in  the  purchase  of 
one  of  these  animal  curiosities,  but  on  second  thought  he 
resolved  that  it  would  be  injudicious  thus  to  burden  him- 
self. He  called  to  mind  his  troubles  while  journeying 
once  by  rail  in  the  United  States,  with  a  medium-sized 
dog  as  a  companion ;  he  said  it  cost  him  about  as  much  for 
the  dog's  traveling  expenses  as  it  did  for  himself,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  put  himself  to  a  great  deal  of  inconvenience. 
Occasionally  he  could  smuggle  the  animal  into  the  ordi- 
nary passenger  car,  but  as  for  the  Pullman  cars,  the  rules 
against  dogs  being  admitted  were  rigidly  prohibitive.  A 
considerable  part  of  the  time  he  rode,  when  allowed  to  do 
so,  in  the  baggage-car,  in  order  to  give  the  dog  the  benefit 
of  his  society.  As  he  ran  these  things  over  in  his  mind 
he  concluded  that  he  would  not  indulge  just  then  in  a 
fennek. 

About  daybreak  the  next  morning  Renaud  came  to  the 
tent  where  the  three  travelers  were  sleeping,  and  gently 
awoke  the  two  youths  without  disturbing  the  doctor. 

"  There's  a  leopard  out  here  in  the  oasis,"  he  whispered, 
"  and  perhaps  you  can  shoot  him." 

Ned  and  Harry  needed  no  second  call ;  the  prospect  of 
bagging  a  leopard  made  them  fully  awake  in  a  moment, 
and  in  very  little  more  time  than  it  takes  to  say  so  they 
were  dressed  and  ready  for  business. 

Renaud  told  them  to  take  their  rifles,  instead  of  shot- 
guns, as  the  leopard  would  require  something  more  than 
duck-shot  to  bring  him  down.  The  boys  had  anticipated 
his  advice  by  taking  their  rifles,  and  each  had  a  dozen 
cartridges  in  his  pocket  in  case  of  need. 


82  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

They  found  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  stirred  up,  and 
some  of  them  were  at  the  camp  indicating  to  Renaud  the 
point  where  the  leopard  was  last  seen.  Renaud  listened 
patiently  to  the  Arabs'  description,  and  then  repeated  it  to 
the  youths.  The  animal  had  been  prowling  in  the  oasis 
some  time  during  the  night  and  made  an  attack  upon  one 
of  the  chicken-houses.  The  noise  made  by  the  disturbed 
chickens  had  aroused  their  owners,  and  as  they  came  out  of 
their  dwellings  they  saw  the  animal  sneaking  away  among 
the  palm  trees. 

There  was  a  ridge  of  sand  at  one  side  of  the  oasis  ex- 
tendingr  the  entire  lencrth  of  it,  and  this  ridij^e  was  hicrh 
enough  to  enable  a  man  in  stooping  posture  to  be  entirely 
hidden  from  view  as  he  passed  along  its  farther  side. 
Renaud  suggested  that  one  of  the  youths  should  take  up 
a  position  near  the  little  cluster  of  houses,  while  the  other, 
accompanied  by  two  or  three  Arabs,  should  go  to  the 
farther  side  of  the  oasis,  keeping  himself  concealed  behind 
the  sand  ridge.  In  this  way,  if  the  leopard  had  not  yet 
left  the  oasis  for  some  other  place  of  concealment,  they 
could  drive  him  to  expose  himself  to  a  shot  from  at  least 
one  of  their  rifles. 

The  plan  was  approved  by  the  youths,  who  proceeded 
to  carry  it  out,  but  a  difficulty  was  found  in  getting  the 
Arabs  to  accompany  them.  They  were  quite  willing  that 
the  white  men  should  kill  the  intruders  upon  their  hen- 
coops, and  take  whatever  risk  was  necessary  in  so  doing, 
but  they  did  not  believe  in  exposing  their  own  precious 
selves  to  any  danger.  The  owner  of  the  despoiled  coop 
was     somewhat     reluctantly     persuaded    to    accompany 


DESERT    GARDENS.  83 

Harry,  and  had  he  not  been  animated  by  a  spirit  of  re- 
venore  it  is  doubtful  if  he  would  have  consented. 

Yusef  and  Abdullah  went  with  Harry  and  the  native, 
while  Renaud  and  one  of  the  camel-men  accompanied 
Ned.  Renaud  was  armed  with  a  rifle,  and,  as  there  were 
thus  two  armed  men  together,  the  camel-man  did  not 
hesitate  to  lend  his  services.  As  soon  as  the  parties  were 
distributed,  Harry  on  one  side  of  the  oasis,  and  Ned  on 
the  other,  they  spread  out  and  began  to  move  slowly 
towards  each  other.  Of  course  they  knew  that  the 
leopard  had  seen  them  and  would  understand  their  pur- 
pose. He  is  not  a  brave  animal,  and  will  always  run 
away  if  he  can,  but  when  driven  into  a  corner  he  is  ready 
to  defend  himself,  and  is  a  fighter  of  no  mean  calibre. 

Harry  and  his  accompanying  supporters  had  advanced 
about  twenty  yards  when  one  of  the  sharp-eyed  Arabs 
uttered  an  exclamation  and  pointed  towards  the  base  of  a 
palm  tree.  Harry  looked  in  the  direction  indicated,  and 
saw  the  leopard  crawling  slowly  along  and  hugging 
closely  to  the  ground.  Part  of  his  body  was  concealed 
by  the  palm  tree,  and  it  was  evidently  the  animal's  in- 
tention to  make  his  wa}^  from  one  tree  to  another  as  cau- 
tiously as  possible  until  he  reached  the  edge  of  the 
oasis.  Then,  doubtless,  he  would  make  a  rapid  run  for 
safety  in  the  open  desert. 

Harry  watched  his  chance,  holding  his  rifle  to  his 
shoulder,  and  when  the  region  of  the  animal's  heart  was 
exposed  he  fired. 

His  shot  was  a  good  one,  and  hit  the  mark  very  nearly 
where  it  was  intended  to.     The  leopard  gave  a  leap  into 


84  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

the  air,  Harry  thinks  about  six  or  seven  feet,  and  then 
fell  heavily  to  the  ground.  The  youth  waited  where  he 
stood  and  then,  slipping  another  cartridge  into  his  rifle, 
advanced  very  cautiously.  The  Arabs  dropped  back  to  a 
respectful  distance  behind  him,  and  he  had  considerable 
difficulty  in  persuading  one  of  them  to  come  forward  and 
try  to  stir  up  the  leopard  with  a  jereed,  or  stalk  of  the 
palm  leaf. 

These  jereeds,  we  may  remark,  are  used  for  many 
purposes.  Huts  are  constructed  of  them,  they  are  used 
as  palings  for  fences,  made  into  lances,  burned  as  fuel, 
and  altogether  are  very  useful  to  the  people  of  the  desert. 
One  of  the  Arabs  that  accompanied  Harry  carried  a  long 
jereed,  and  it  was  with  this  weapon  that  the  youth  wished 
the  attendant  to  stir  up  the  leopard  to  make  sure  that  he 
was  dead,  he,  meanwhile,  standing  with  rifle  ready 
cocked,  and  prepared  to  shoot  in  case  of  need. 

When  the  man  was  sufficiently  nerved  up  to  make  the 
attempt  he  did  so,  and  the  leopard  was  found  to  be 
quite  dead. 

Then  a  great  shout  rose  from  the  Arabs,  which  brought 
all  the  villagers  to  the  spot,  and  the  body  of  the  beast  was 
borne  in  triumph  to  the  camp.  The  Arabs  were  very 
grateful  to  the  youths  for  their  success  in  ridding  them  of 
this  pest,  and  they  brought  out  about  twenty  eggs  which 
they  wished  the  boys  to  accept  in  return  for  their  ser- 
vices. The  youths  declined  the  tribute  offered  to  their 
skill,  and  asked  Renaud  to  explain  to  them  that  they 
would  be  pleased  to  shoot  as  many  leopards  as  the  natives 
would  bring  along.      Renaud  translated  the  proposal,  to 


DESERT    GARDENS.  85 

which  the  Arabs  replied  that  they  were  sorry  they  had  no 
more  leopards,  but  if  Ned  and  Harry  would  come  again 
they  might  be  able  to  accommodate  them. 

The  killing  of  the  leopard,  following  that  of  the  lion, 
already  described,  led  to  a  talk  concerning  the  animals  of 
the  Sahara.  The  youths  had  many  questions  to  ask  of 
Renaud,  and  the  Frenchman  told  them  that  the  leopard 
was  scattered  through  the  greater  part  of  the  Sahara,  and 
sometimes,  if  caught  while  young,  was  trained  by  the 
Arabs  for  hunting  purposes.  When  thus  trained,  he  is 
usually  kept  in  a  comparatively  dark  place,  and  when 
taken  out  for  the  hunt  his  eyes  are  covered  with  a  hood. 
Sometimes  he  is  led,  and  sometimes  he  is  carried  on  the 
back  of  a  camel. 

When  the  game,  generally  a  gazelle,  is  sighted,  the  head 
of  the  leopard  is  turned  in  its  direction,  and  the  hood  is 
removed.  Away  bounds  the  animal,  but,  fleet  as  is  the 
gazelle,  it  cannot  outstrip  the  leopard.  Springing  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  prey,  he  bears  it  to  the  earth,  bursts  its 
jugular  vein  with  one  of  his  fangs,  and  proceeds  to  suck 
its  blood.  The  hunting  party  comes  up  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  it  is  no  small  task  to  separate  .the  leopard  from 
the  gazelle  ;  until  he  has  exhausted  the  supply  of  blood, 
he  refuses  to  be  taken  off,  and  is  not  at  all  unlikely  to 
attack  his  master  if  he  persists  in  removing  him. 

"There  is  also  the  panther,"  said  Renaud,  "which  is 
found  in  various  parts  of  the  Sahara,  but  more  frequently 
in  the  northern  than  in  the  southern  portion.  He  is  an 
ugly  customer  to  meet,  but,  like  most  wild  animals,  will 
avoid  a  fight  if  he  can  do  so.     Occasionally  the  Arabs 


86  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

catch  a  young  panther  and  tame  him :  he  is  a  nice 
enough  pet  when  very  young,  and  a  baby  panther  is  as 
playful  as  a  kitten,  though  not  quite  as  gentle.  When  he 
attains  his  full  size  he  is  somewhat  dangerous,  as  he  is 
apt  to  be  too  much  in  earnest  when  at  play.  You  may 
have  a  chance  to  shoot  a  panther  one  of  these  days,  and 
if  I  hear  of  one  near  any  of  the  camps  I  will  let  you 
know." 

On  the  day  after  the  adventure  with  the  leopard,  our 
friends  saw  in  the  distance,  a  small  flock  of  ostriches,  and, 
needless  to  say,  Ned  and  Harry  immediately  had  a  long- 
ing for  an  ostrich  hunt.  They  appealed  the  case  to  the 
doctor,  but  that  experienced  gentleman  shook  his  head 
and  said  he  didn't  think  ostrich  hunting  was  in  their  line 
just  then.  Of  course  they  deferred  to  the  argument  of 
the  doctor,  and  said  nothing  more  on  the  subject.  The 
ostriches  had  not  taken  them  altogether  by  surprise,  as 
they  had  seen  some  of  these  birds  at  Tuggurt ;  some 
were  in  large  cages,  or,  rather,  in  inclosures  open  at  the 
top,  and  others  were  wandering  about  the  marketplace 
making  themselves  quite  at  home,  and  levying  tribute 
upon  the  piles  of  vegetables  and  grain  offered  for  sale. 
Ned  remarked  that  they  were  systematic  and  cunning  in 
their  depredations,  watching  their  chance  to  do  a  little 
thieving  while  the  owner  of  the  stolen  property  had 
stepped  aside  for  a  moment,  or  turned  his  back  upon  his 
wares. 

The  youths  questioned  Renaud  on  the  subject  of  ostrich 
hunting,  and  the  latter  described  at  some  length  the  way 
it  was  carried  on. 


DESERT    GARDENS.  87 


( i 


In  the  first  place,"  said  Renaud,  "the  time  for 
ostrich  hunting  is  in  the  hottest  part  of  summer ;  the  hotter 
the  weather  is  the  more  easily  the  birds  lose  their  strength. 
An  ostrich  hunt  is  liable  to  last  for  several  days,  and 
therefore  proper  preparations  must  be  made.  It  is  rather 
hard  work  for  Europeans,  and  I  wouldn't  advise  you  to 
indulge  in  it,  but  the  Arabs  get  along  all  right  and  seem 
to  enjoy  it." 

"  From  twelve  to  twenty  Arabs,"  continued  Renaud, 
"  make  up  a  hunting  party,  each  of  them  mounted  on 
horseback.  Each  rider  is  accompanied  by  a  servant  and 
a  camel,  carrying  provisions  for  the  men  and  water  for 
both  men  and  horses.  Fuel  is  taken  along  for  cooking 
purposes,  unless  the  region  where  the  hunt  is  to  take  place 
abounds  in  bushes  and  other  things  sufficient  for  making  a 
fire. 

"The  ostrich  is  generally  found  where  grass  has  come 
up  in  consequence  of  recent  rains,  or  in  hollows  where 
the  ground  is  sufficiently  moist  to  keep  a  little  vegetation 
alive.  The  Arabs  say  that  whenever  the  ostrich  sees 
lightning,  or  observes  other  indications  of  a  coming  storm, 
he  has  the  instinct  to  know  where  the  storm  will  burst 
and  proceeds  unerringly  to  that  spot.  He  knows  that 
vegetation  will  follow  the  rain,  and  directs  himself  ac- 
cordingly. 

"The  organizers  of  a  hunt  sometimes  send  out  mes- 
sengers several  days  in  advance  to  ascertain  where  os- 
triches are  to  be  found,  and  they  also  obtain  information  from 
caravans  or  from  solitary  travelers.  As  soon  as  they  are 
satisfied    as    to    the    direction   to    pursue,    they   travel    as 


8S  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

rapidly  as  possible  until  the  place  where  the  ostriches 
were  seen  is  reached.  There  they  halt  and  make  a 
bivouac,  and  the  next  morning  two  of  their  servants  are 
sent  out  to  get  sight  of  the  birds.  For  this  purpose  the 
best  runners  are  picked  out,  and  they  go  entirely  naked, 
except  a  loin  cloth  at  the  waist.  When  they  see  the  birds, 
they  lie  down  and  watch  the  movements  of  the  flock  for 
awhile,  and  then  one  of  them  goes  back  to  the  bivouac 
with  the  information. 

*'  Sometimes  he  can  report  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
ostriches,  and  at  others  only  two  or  three.  The  company 
immediately  proceeds  to  the  spot  where  the  birds  were 
seen,  being  guided  there  by  the  man  who  brought  the  in- 
formation. The  nearer  they  approach  to  it,  the  more 
cautious  are  their  movements,  as  it  is  necessary  that  the 
birds  should  not  see  them  until  the  proper  time  arrives. 
The  hunters  are  mounted  on  their  horses,  and  these  make 
a  wide  detour  so  as  to  form  a  circle  around  the  ostriches, 
but  so  far  away  that  they  cannot  be  perceived.  When 
the  riders  have  taken  their  places  those  on  foot  walk 
towards  the  center  of  the  ring,  spreading  out  considerably 
and  making  demonstrations  to  scare  the  ostriches.  The 
birds  run  away  in  great  alarm,  and  in  trying  to  es- 
cape they  run  against  the  circle  of  men  on  horseback ; 
then  they  run  back  again,  and,  encountering  the  line  of 
people  on  foot,  they  retrace  their  steps  until  they  again 
reach  the  mounted  Arabs." 

"Thus  they  go,  back  and  forth,  back  and  forth,  again 
and  again,  exhausting  their  strength,  and  as  soon  as  they 
begin  to  show    signs  of  weariness  the  huntsmen  narrow 


DESERT    GARDENS.  89 

the  circle,  and  frighten  them  more  than  ever.  At  last  the 
ostriches  open  their  wings,  which  is  a  sure  indication  that 
they  are  ready  to  drop  with  fatigue,  and  when  this  sign  is 
observed  the  Arabs  close  in  upon  them.  Each  rider 
selects  a  bird,  rides  directly  at  it,  and  strikes  it  a  heavy 
blow  with  his  jereed.  The  ostrich,  when  struck,  falls  to  the 
ground.  One  after  another  of  the  flock  is  knocked  down, 
or,  if  the  Arabs  choose,  the  birds  may  be  taken  alive,  as 
they  are  so  exhausted  that  they  can  scarcely  walk." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Ned,  "that  the  bird  is  taken  chiefly 
for  his  feathers." 

"You  are  quite  right,"  said  Renaud ;  "  the  chief  value 
of  the  ostrich  is  in  his  feathers,  and  sometimes  a  good 
many  francs'  worth  are  taken  from  a  single  bird.  The 
ostriches  that  you  saw  at  Tuggurt  were  probably  caught 
when  young  in  just  such  a  manner  as  I  have  described. 
They  were  not  in  fine  feather,  and  therefore  it  was  in- 
judicious to  kill  them." 

"I've  read,"  said  Harry,  "that  in  times  of  danger  the 
ostrich  buries  his  head  in  the  sand,  or  under  a  bush  or 
rock,  thinking  he  will  be  safe  as  long  as  he  can't  see  his 
enemy.     Is  that  really  true?  " 

"  Possibly  there  may  be  some  truth  in  it,"  Renaud  re- 
plied, "as  I've  heard  of  it  before.  It  is  proper  to  say 
that  I  never  heard  it  from  the  Arab  hunters  and  there- 
fore place  very  little  faith  in  it.  The  ostrich  isn't  a  wise 
bird  by  any  means,  but  I  don't  believe  that  a  respectable 
one  would  be  such  an  idiot  as  that.  However,  it's  a 
pretty  story,  anyway,  and  as  it  has  been  believed  so  long 
it  isn't  wise  to  destroy  it." 


90 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


"  Is  it  really  true,"  queried  Ned,  "  that  the  Arabs  tame 
the  ostrich  and  ride  on  him  as  we  ride  on  horses,  or  is 
that  another  beautiful  fiction?  " 

"I  don't  know  whether  it  is  or  not,"  said  Renaud. 
"The  ostrich  can  be  easily  tamed  if  taken  when  young, 
as  you  have  already  seen,  but  nobody  in  this  locality 
has  ever  used  him  for  riding  purposes.  I  have  heard 
that  the  natives  of  southern  Africa  ride  the  ostrich,  and 
use  him  for  hunting  wild  birds  of  his  own  kind.  I  have 
read  in  a  French  story-book  that  a  native  will  mount  on 
the  back  of  a  tame  ostrich,  ride  into  a  flock,  or  near 
enough  to  it  to  shoot  one  after  another  of  the  birds  with 
poisoned  arrows.  To  do  this  he  has  to  hug  closely  to  the 
back  of  his  two-legged  steed  in  order  that  the  wild  birds 
may  not  discover  his  presence  and  take  alarm.  The 
ostrich  can  easily  carry  a  small  man  on  his  back,  as  he  is 
very  strong,  and  weighs,  when  full  grown,  between  two 
and  three  hundred  pounds." 

"I've  heard,"  remarked  Harry,  "that  the  eggs  of  the 
ostrich  are  very  fine  eating ;  I  wish  we  could  have  one  to 
try." 

"They  are  very  good  eating,"  was  the  reply,  "and 
you  may  have  the  opportunity  of  trying  one  very  soon. 
You  needn't  wish  for  half  a  dozen  eggs  for  the  supper  of 
your  party ;  one  will  be  quite  sufficient,  as  it  contains  the 
equivalent  of  about  two  dozen  hen's  eggs." 

That  very  evening  an  Arab  brought  into  the  camp 
several  ostrich  eggs,, and  as  the  price  he  asked  for  them 
was  very  reasonable,  the  doctor  purchased  his  entire  stock, 
distributing  all  but  one  among  the  men  of  the  expedition, 


DESERT    GARDENS.  9I 

and  reserving  that  one  for  himself  and  the  two  youths. 
The  egg  was  cooked  by  standing  it  on  end  in  the  fire  and 
breaking  the  upper  portion  of  the  shell  so  that  a  stick 
could  be  inserted  for  stirring  the  contents  while  the  cook- 
ing process  was  going  on.  The  Qgg  proved  very  palatable, 
and  Ned  said  he  would  not  mind  having  ostrich  eggs  for 
supper  every  day — until  he  got  tired  of  them. 

The  presence  of  the  egg  led  to  another  question, —  how 
does  the  ostrich  make  its  nest,  and  how  are  the  eggs 
hatched  ? 

To  these  questions  Renaud  replied  that  the  ostrich  lays 
its  eggs  in  the  sand,  and  sits  on  them  at  night  or  in  rainy 
weather.  On  clear  days  the  heat  of  the  sun  on  the  sand 
is  quite  sufficient  for  all  hatching  purposes.  The  eggs  are 
grouped  close  together  in  what  may  be  called  a  nest. 
Outside  of  it  at  a  little  distance  other  eggs  are  found,  and 
as  these  are  not  covered  by  the  birds  at  night,  they  are 
not  hatched.  An  idea  prevails  that  these  outside  eggs  are 
intended  as  food  for  the  birds  as  they  come  out  of  their 
shells,  but  as  they  are  generally  found  unbroken  after  the 
eggs  in  the  nest  have  been  hatched,  and  the  young  birds 
are  gone,  this  supposition  can  hardly  be  a  correct  one. 

"In  the  afternoon  of  this  day,"  wrote  Ned  in  his 
journal,  "we  found  ourselves  among  hills  of  drifting 
sand  for  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and  made  little 
progress.  The  hills  and  ridges  followed  each  other  in 
rapid  succession ;  the  hills  were  not  very  high,  about  one 
hundred  feet  or  so,  but  it  was  toilsome  work  to  climb 
them.  Horses,  camels,  and  men  found  the  ascent  very 
severe. 


92  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

**  Harry  and  I  struggled  through  sand  which  came 
very  nearly  to  our  knees,  and  sometimes  above  them. 
We  carried  our  rifles,  being  unwilling  to  be  separated  from 
them  for  a  moment.  The  rifles  weighed  ten  pounds  each, 
but  every  time  that  we  reached  the  top  of  the  hills  of  sand 
it  seemed  as  though  mine  was  not  less  than  a  quarter  of  a 
ton.  We  had  a  supply  of  ammunition  in  our  waistcoats, 
and  each  cartridge  seemed  to  multiply  itself  in  weight 
about  twenty  times.  Going  down  the  hill  was  almost  as 
much  work  as  ascending  it,  the  one  difference  being  that 
we  had  the  advantage  of  momentum,  and,  though  we 
sank  deeper  in  the  sand,  a  smaller  amount  of  effort  was 
necessary  to  extract  our  feet  at  every  step. 

"  The  horses  also  had  a  hard  struggle,  quite  as  much  as 
the  human  portion  of  the  expedition.  The  camels,  as 
stated  elsewhere,  are  adapted  by  nature  to  this  kind  of 
travel ;  therefore  they  suffered  the  least,  though  sometimes 
it  looked  as  if  several  of  them  would  give  out,  lie  down, 
and  die.  When  a  camel  feels  his  strength  giving  out  he 
lies  down  and  refuses  to  rise  until  his  load  is  removed. 
In  such  cases  he  will  generally,  but  by  no  means  always, 
come  to  his  feet  again  and  proceed.  On  great  routes  of 
travel,  where  large  numbers  of  camels  are  employed,  the 
way  is  marked  by  the  bleaching  bones  of  *  the  ships  of 
the  desert '  that  have  perished  through  exhaustion  caused 
by  severe  work  or  deprivation  of  food  and  water. 

"  Not  a  day  passes  that  we  are  not  treated  to  a  mirage, 
and  the  deception  is  so  perfect  that  even  the  doctor  has 
been  taken  in.  A  little  to  the  right  of  us,  on  the  first  day 
out,  we  saw  a  beautiful  lake,  oval    in    shape,    and   sur- 


DESERT    GARDENS. 


93 


rounded  by  trees.  As  we  were  traveling  at  that  time,  we 
would  not  go  near  it ;  the  doctor  called  to  Renaud  and 
told  him  that  if  it  were  not  too  much  out  of  our  way  he 
would  like  to  go  and  see  that  lake.  Renaud  smiled  and 
replied  that  the  lake  which  he  pointed  out  was  Lake 
Fantasy,  and  then  he  explained  that  it  was  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  a  mn-aiie. 

"'There's  no  lake  at  all  there,'  he  said,  'and  if  we 
tried  to  find  it  it  would  run  away  from  us.' 

"  '  Very  well,'  said  the  doctor ;  '  we  will  let  Lake  Fan- 
tasy take  care  of  itself,  but  it  is  a  most  perfect  deception, 
as  perfect  a  one  as  I  ever  saw.' 

Renaud  went  on  to  explain  what  the  doctor  already 
knew,  but  Harry  and  I  didn't,  that  you  can  distinguish 
between  a  real  lake  or  body  of  water  and  an  imaginary 
one  by  observing  its  color.  In  the  mirage  the  apparent 
lake  has  exactly  the  same  color  as  the  sky  above  it. 
Such  may  be  the  case,  too,  in  a  real  lake,  but  generally  it 
is  not  so.  The  lake  is  usually  of  a  darker  blue  than  the 
sky,  but  sometimes  it  is  lighter  than  the  sky  in  color. 

"You  can  set  this  down  as  a  rule,  so  Renaud  told  us, 
that  where  sky  and  water  are  of  the  same  color  it  is  a 
mirage,  but  possibly  a  real  lake  ;  where  there  is  a  de- 
cided difference  in  color  it  is  not  a  mirage. 

"  On  the  fourth  day  of  our  journey  the  morning  was 
sultry  and  the  sky  without  a  cloud.  The  heat  was  of  high 
degree  and  the  air  was  perfectly  still.  Harry  and  I  were 
riding  side  by  side  on  our  horses,  when  off  at  a  distance 
we  observed  something  that  looked  like  a  large  column  or 
pillar,  and  it  appeared  to  be  in  motion  while  standing  up- 


94  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

right.     I  called  Renaud's  attention  to  it  and  asked  what 
it  was. 

"  '  That,'  said  he,  '  is  a  whirlwind  of  sand,  and  the  pillar 
that  you  see  is  the  sand  which  the  whirlwind  carries  in  its 
midst.  I  hope  it  won't  come  near  us,  as  it  is  a  very  un- 
comfortable thing  to  meet.' 

*'  The  whirlwind  moved  about  over  the  desert  in  a  very 
erratic  way,  and  we  could  see  by  the  clean  swept  appear- 
ance of  the  ground  beneath  it  that  it  was  taking  up  great 
volumes  of  sand.  It  moved  on  here  and  there  in  a  some- 
what zigzag  way,  and  every  turn  that  it  made  it  came 
nearer  to  us. 

"'What  will  happen?'  I  asked  Renaud,  'if  that 
whirlwind  happens  to  come  upon  us?' 

"  '  It  might  overwhelm  us,  blind  and  choke  us,  and  pile 
the  sand  about  us,  so  that  we  should  be  buried  out  of 
sight.  Have  your  rifles  ready,  and  if  it  comes  within 
shooting  distance  lire  into  the  midst  of  the  column,  just  as 
sailors  fire  at  water-spouts  at  sea.  The  Arabs  do  so,  and 
they  say  that  it  breaks  up  the  whirlwinds,  and  more  than 
once  has  saved  many  lives.' 

"We  got  our  guns  in  readiness  to  do  as  Renaud  in- 
structed us.  On  and  on  came  the  whirlwind  and  after  a 
time  we  felt  the  breezes  w^iich  indicated  that  we  were  in 
the  outer  edge  of  its  sphere  of  motion.  I  fired  at  the 
moving  column  and  so  did  Harry.  The  doctor  and 
Renaud  joined  in  the  shooting,  but  the  whirlwind  went 
on  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  It  seemed,  though, 
to  be  affected  by  the  shooting,  as  it  changed  its  course 
and  went  away." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CAUGHT    IN    A  SAND-STORM A    DANGEROUS    COUNTRY. 

THE  end  of  the  valley  of  the  Oued  Ghir  was  reached 
after  much  wearisome  travel  through  loose  and 
shifting  sands.  Beyond  this  valley  there  was  an  ascent 
to  higher  ground,  the  road  alternating  between  a  hard 
surface  in  which  rocks  were  scattered  about  and  great 
patches  of  loose  sands  which  were  quite  enough,  when 
no  wind  was  blowing,  to  make  travel  very  unpleasant. 
When  the  breezes  arose  locomotion  was  practically 
impossible.  At  the  last  of  the  wells  of  good  water,  the 
water-skins  were  filled  and  carefully  stowed  on  the  camels 
whose  duty  it  was  to  carry  them. 

As  before  stated,  oiie  of  the  camels  was  principally 
laden  with  water,  but  each  camel  had  as  a  part  of  his 
burden  one  or  more  skins  of  water,  so  that  in  case  a  rider 
became  separated  from  the  caravan  there  was  no  danger 
of  his  suffering  from  thirst,  unless  his  absence  was  long 
continued.  Each  horseman  had  a  small  skin  of  water 
attached  to  the  saddle,  and  so  far  as  precautions  could 
go,  the  danger  of  suffering  from  lack  of  water  was  re- 
duced to  a  minimum. 

Renaud  told  our  young  friends  that,  unless  an  unfore- 
seen accident  happened,  travelers  in  the  desert  rarely 
perish  from  thirst. 

95 


96  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

"  Of  course,"  he  said,  "  a  good  many  things  may  hap- 
pen to  bring  about  such  an  unfortunate  circumstance. 
The  traveler,  or  caravan,"  he  continued,  "  may  start  upon 
a  journey  with  an  insufficient  supply  of  water,  or  the 
liquid  in  the  skins  may  be  dried  up  by  unusual  heat. 
The  skins  may  leak,  and  the  water  be  wasted,  or  they 
may  be  lost  by  being  improperly  packed.  A  journey 
where  there  is  no  water  may  be  much  longer  than  ex- 
pected ;  camels  may  give  out  or  other  things  happen  to 
delay  progress.  But,  leaving  out  all  these  things,  and 
some  others  I  might  mention,  there  is  very  little  danger 
of  death  from  lack  of  water.  As  a  last  resort,  the  Arabs 
kill  their  camels,  or  a  portion  of  them,  and  drink  the  water 
which  is  stowed  away  in  the  stomach  of  the  beast.  Nature 
has  provided  the  camel  with  a  reservoir,  in  which  he  can 
store  away  sufficient  water  to  last  him  for  a  week.  There 
is  one  variety  of  camel  which  is  said  to  be  able  to  go  for 
twenty  days  without  drinking. 

*'Oneof  the  greatest  misfortunes  in  this  matter,"  said 
Renaud,  "  is  the  drying  up  of  wells  on  which  reliance  for 
the  replenishing  of  water  has  been  placed.  Sometimes 
caravans  containing  hundreds  of  men  and  hundreds  of 
camels  have  perished  in  this  way,  and  there  is  an  in- 
stance on  record  in  which  a  thousand  men  and  more  than 
two  thousand  camels  were  destroyed  by  this  misfortune. 
They  started  with  a  supply  of  water  quite  sufficient  to 
carry  them  to  certain  wells  in  the  desert,  which  had  been 
known  to  flow  for,  over  a  hundred  years.  Their  supply 
was  exhausted,  or  very  nearly  so,  when  they  neared  the 
wells  where  they  expected  to  refill  their  water-skins. 


CAUGHT    IN    A    SAND-STORM.  97 

'*It  was  known  that  the  wells  were  in  their  usual  con- 
dition six  weeks  previous.  Imagine  the  horror  of  the 
leaders  when  they  reached  the  spot  and  found  that  not  a 
drop  of  water  was  to  be  obtained  there.  There  were  more 
than  a  dozen  wells  in  the  group  which  had  hitherto 
yielded  good  drinking  water  in  abundance.  One  well 
after  another  was  examined,  and  all  were  found  to  be 
hopelessly  dry.  It  was  a  six  days'  journey  to  the  nearest 
water,  and  to  travel  for  six  days  without  water  under  the 
hot  sun  of  Africa  was  absolutely  impossible." 

**The  men  dug  new  wells  near  the  old  ones  in  the 
hope  of  striking  a  fresh  vein  of  water,  but  their  efforts 
were  fruitless ;  then  they  killed  some  of  the  camels  in  the 
hope  of  being  able  to  obtain  water  from  their  stomachs, 
but  again  they  were  disappointed,  as  very  little  remained 
of  the  supply  that  the  camels  had  taken  in  at  the  last 
drinking  place. 

*'The  leaders  of  the  party  gathered  together  in  a  very 
serious  conclave.  The  great  question  was  what  should 
they  do  to  save  their  lives  and  the  lives  of  their  com- 
rades ;  the  only  thing  that  gave  any  promise  of  escape 
was  to  mount  the  camels  and  travel  away  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible. Each  day  they  would  slaughter  some  of  the 
animals,  and  obtain  what  water  they  could  from  the 
stomachs  of  the  animals,  and  by  sucking  and  chewing 
the  flesh  of  the  beasts  a  little  moisture  might  be  obtained. 
Orders  were  given  to  throw  off  all  burdens  of  the  camels 
except  the  saddles.  Silks  and  other  goods  of  great  value 
were  scattered  on  the  ground  in  order  to  lighten  as 
much  as  possible    the  burdens  of  the  patient  and  thirsty 


98  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

animals ;     then    the  order    to  mount  was  given,   and   the 
column  moved  away. 

*'  Before  long  men  began  to  fall  from  their  places,  and 
the  camels  lay  down,  and  refused  to  go  further.  The 
supply  of  water  obtained  by  killing  the  camels  was  totally 
inadequate.  On  and  on  went  the  caravan,  as  best  it 
could ;  the  bodies  of  men  and  camels  marking  the  line 
of  march  through  the  desert.  Of  all  the  entire  number  of 
men  and  beasts,  only  two  of  the  former  and  one  of  the 
latter  succeeded  in  reaching  a  place  of  safety  and  telling 
the  story  of  their  sad  misfortune  in  the  desert.  We  may 
rejoice,"  concluded  Renaud,  "that  occurrences  of  this 
kind  are  rare,  but,  unfortunately,  they  do  happen  some- 
times." 

Ned  and  Harry  asked  Renaud  how  the  wandering 
Arabs  in  the  desert  manage  to  secure  water  when  they 
are  at  war  with  each  other,  and  one  party  has  possession 
of  wells. 

*'  I  was  just  going  to  tell  you  about  that,"  said  Renaud. 
"The  Tuaregs  and  the  Chaamba,  the  really  nomadic 
tribes  of  the  desert,  know  every  well  that  we  know  about, 
and  they  have  in  addition  a  great  many  wells  of  their 
own.  Their  wells  are  mostly  hidden,  that  is,  they  are  not 
marked  by  a  pillar,  or  a  heap  of  stones,  or  by  any  artifi- 
cial indication  of  the  existence  of  the  well,  and  even  if 
one  comes  directly  on  the  spot  he  is  not  likely  to  discover 
it,  as  it  is  covered  with  a  flat  stone,  on  which  sand  has 
been  piled  and  levelled  so  as  to  conceal  the  place.  The 
landmarks  around  the  well  are  known  only  to  the  tribe  to 
which   it  belongs,   and  it  is    death  to  reveal  the  locality 


CAUGHT    IN    A    SAND-STORM.  99 

to  any  person  who  does  not  belong  to  the  tribe.  Some- 
times the  knowledge  of  such  a  well  is  obtained  by  sur- 
prising a  party  while  taking  water  from  it,  but  this  doesn't 
often  happen." 

"  What  a  pity  it  is,"  one  of  the  youths  remarked, 
"  that  no  scientist  has  yet  been  able  to  produce  water  from 
air.  I  suppose  such  a  thing  is  impossible,  or  it  would 
have  heen  accomplished  before  this." 

*'Well,"  replied  the  other,  "all  you  want  is  the  gases 
that  compose  water.  Then  I  suppose  it  wouldn't  be 
difficult." 

'*  Quite  true,"  was  the  reply,  "no  more  than  it  would 
be  to  have  a  good  dinner  with  plenty  of  first-class  food, 
but  you  can't  manufacture  water  without  the  necessary 
components,  any  more  than  you  can  take  dinner  when  you 
have  nothing  to  eat." 

On  the  day  that  the  party  ascended  from  the  valley  of 
Oued  Ghir  to  the  higher  ground  they  were  overtaken  by 
a  party  of  four  mounted  soldiers,  who  had  been  sent 
to  them  by  the  commanding  officer  at  Tuggurt.  They 
brought  a  message  to  the  effect  that  an  officer  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  sheikh  of  the  Tuaregs  had  reached 
Tuggurt,  and  reported  a  successful  journey.  He  had 
arranged  that  a  safe-conduct  could  be  granted  by  the 
commandant  at  Tuggurt  or  by  the  governor  of  Biskra 
to  any  party  of  travelers,  by  the  payment  of  a  small  tribute 
to  the  sheikh  of  the  tribe  or  his  representative.  The 
soldiers  brought  a  safe-conduct  for  Doctor  Whitney  and 
his  party,  and  it  was  stipulated  in  the  document  that  in 
case  they  met  a   Tuareg    party  they    should    exhibit  the 


lOO  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

paper,  which  was  drawn  in  both  French  and  Arabic,  and 
pay  the  amount  stipulated,  which  was  one  dollar  for  each 
man. of  the  expedition.  The  plan  savored  a  good  deal  of 
blackmail,  but  we  must  remember  that  it  has  long  been 
the  custom  of  African  travelers  to  pay  tribute  to  the  rulers 
of  the  countries  through  which  they  pass.  This  system 
prevails  through  all  parts  of  Africa,  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  Sahara  should  be  exempt  from  it.  Besides,  it  is 
much  more  satisfactory  to  pay,  and  be  allowed  to  go  un- 
molested than  to  be  robbed  of  everything,  including 
horses  and  camels,  and  be  forced  to  continue  or  retrace 
one's  journey  on  foot. 

It  was  near  nightfall  when  the  soldiers  overtook  the 
caravan  and  delivered  their  message.  Camp  was  formed 
shortly  afterwards,  and  Doctor  Whitney  told  Renaud  to 
see  that  the  soldiers  were  fed  on  the  best  that  the  camp 
afforded.  We  may  be  sure  that  Renaud  carried  out  his 
instructions,  and  was  mindful  of  the  old  adage, —  "The 
bearer  of  welcome  tidings  deserves  a  bountiful  reward." 
In  the  morning  the  messengers  returned  towards  Tuggurt, 
carrying  with  them  a  warm  letter  of  thanks  from  the 
doctor  to  the  commandant,  together  with  several  letters 
from  the  three  Americans,  who  sat  up  until  after  midnight 
to  write  to  their  friends  at  home. 

The  safe-conduct  from  the  commandant  did  not  arrive 
any  too  soon.  On  that  very  day  our  friends  met  a  party 
of  Tuaregs  mounted  on  their  swift  dromedaries,  which 
are  said  to  be  the  swiftest  and  finest  of  their  race.  The 
two  parties  approached  each  other  slowly  and  halted 
about  a  hundred  yards  apart ;    then  Doctor  Whitney  and 


CAUGHT    IN    A    SAND-STORM.  lOI 

Renaud  rode  forward,  while  at  the  same  time  the  Tuaregs 
despatched  two  of  their  number  to  meet  them  half  way. 
When  the  four  came  together  all  dismounted,  the  Tuaregs 
from  their  dromedaries,  and  the  doctor  and  Renaud  from 
their  horses.  Civilities  were  exchanged,  the  safe-conduct 
was  exhibited,  and  the  tribute  money  paid  over. 

The  sheikh  of  the  party  noted  on  the  margin  of  the 
paper  the  payment  of  tribute  money,  and  then  the  for- 
malities were  ended.  This  one  payment  sufficed  for  the 
journey.  Any  subsequent  party  of  Tuaregs,  seeing  the 
document,  and  ascertaining  that  the  safe-conduct  had  been 
paid  for,  would  not  exact  a  renewal  thereof.  The 
Tuaregs  are  an  honorable  set  of  thieves,  and,  like  most 
rascals  the  world  over,  pretend  to  set  great  store  upon 
their  promises. 

The  other  troublesome  tribe  of  that  part  of  the  desert 
is  the  Chaamba,  which  has  already  been  mentioned. 
They  are  not  as  numerous  as  the  Tuaregs,  and  the 
country  through  which  they  roam  is  not  so  extensive,  but 
they  are  great  depredators,  and  omit  no  opportunity  to 
plunder.  A  few  days  after  the  occurrence  just  mentioned 
our  friends  had  a  narrow  escape  from  them.  One  evening, 
while  they  were  encamped,  three  or  four  Arabs  came  into 
the  camp  on  foot.  They  said  that  they  belonged  to  a 
caravan  which  had  been  attacked  by  the  Chaamba ;  they 
had  lost  their  camels  and  escaped  only  with  their  lives. 
The  Chaamba  had  secured  and  bound  several  of  their 
comrades,  and  would  probably  hold  them  for  ransom. 
Those  who  had  escaped  had  done  so  by  mere  swiftness  of 
foot,  and  by  watching  their  chance  whil^  the  marauders 


I02  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

were  engaged  in  securing  the  camels  and  binding  the 
men  who  had  fallen  into  their  hands. 

Investigation  showed  that  Doctor  Whitney's  party  had 
gone  directly  through  the  Chaamba  party  while  it  was 
concealed  in  a  dense  thicket  of  scrub  bushes,  four  or 
five  feet  high.  The  Chaamba  had  formed  an  ambuscade, 
and,  for  some  reason,  either  that  they  were  not  ready,  or 
they  did  not  like  the  appearance  of  the  rifles  that  our 
friends  carried,  they  did  not  deem  it  judicious  to  make  an 
assault. 

Harry  said  he  could  not  understand  why  it  was  that  a 
whole  tribe  of  people  considered  it  a  legitimate  business 
to  plunder  others.  He  would  suppose  that  there  were 
enough  honest  people  in  the  tribe  to  suppress  robbery 
and  deter  the  others  from  it. 

Ned  replied  that  he  believed  honesty  to  be  a  conven- 
tional matter  rather  than  a  natural  trait.  We  are  unable 
to  give  his  argument  at  length,  but  will  endeavor  to  make 
a  brief  synopsis  of  it. 

"  What  we  call  honesty  and  the  regard  for  the  property 
of  others,"  said  Ned,  "is  a  matter  of  education,  and  is  not 
born  with  us.  A  small  child  sees  something  that  it  wants 
and  takes  it ;  it  never  occurs  to  him  that  it  may  belong 
to  somebody  else  ;  in  fact,  it  doesn't  know  anything  about 
property  rights  at  all.  '  After  he  grows  older  he  is  in- 
structed in  these  matters,  and  in  due  time  learns  to 
regard  the  rights  of  property.  If  he  went  on  without  any 
such  education,  he-  would  be  pretty  certain  to  do  at  the 
age  of  ten  or  twenty  years  exactly  as  he  does  just  as  he 
begins    to  walk.     If  he  had  been  brought  up  to  believe 


CAUGHT    IN    A    SAND-STORM.  IO3 

that  might  makes  right,  he  would  be  exactly  like  these 
marauding  Arabs,  or  like  the  Indians  in  North  America. 
Before  the  American  Indians  were  so  nearly  extinguished 
by  the  weapons  and  vices  of  the  white  men  they  regarded 
horse-stealing  as  a  perfectly  legitimate  business,  and  the 
one  who  had  stolen  the  greatest  number  of  horses  was 
regarded  as  the  best  man  of  his  tribe.  And  right  in  the 
heart  of  civilization  burglars  and  other  thieves  are  proud 
of  their  profession,  and  think  that  society  is  all  wrong 
when  it  treats  them  as  it  does.  These  Arabs  have  been 
brought  up  to  believe  that  it  is  perfectly  right  and  proper  to 
follow  their  own  inclinations,  and  look  upon  stealing  as 
the  easiest  way  of  making  an  honest  living." 

As  a  matter  of  curiosity,  our  young  friends  wanted  to 
see  a  sand-storm  in  the  desert ;  that  is,  they  desired  to 
know  what  a  sand-storm  was,  but  they  did  not  wish  for 
a  severe  one,  and  would  be  satisfied  with  it  if  it  died  away 
very  soon  after  it  began.  Their  desire  was  granted,  at 
least,  in  one  respect ;  they  experienced  a  sand-storm,  but 
it  was  a  good  deal  more  severe  than  they  wanted.  It 
came  up  one  day  while  they  were  on  the  march,  blowing 
directly  in  their  faces.  At  first  it  was  not  a  strong  wind, 
but  it  steadily  increased,  and  whirled  the  sand  about  so 
that  the  party  seemed  to  be  in  a  dense  fog.  The  sky  was 
cloudless,  and  the  sun  visible  nearly  all  the  time,  as  the 
sand  swept  only  a  few  yards  above  the  surface,  but  it  was 
sufficiently  high  to  envelop  the  camels  as  well  as  the 
men. 

The  horses  were  fairly  blinded  by  the  flying  sand, 
and  very  shortly  refused  to  push  on  against  it.     It  was 


I04  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

impossible  to  see  ahead  for  more  than  a  yard,  not  even 
to  see  the  steps  of  the  animal  immediately  preceding. 
Horses  and  camels  turned  around  so  as  to  hold  their 
heads  from  the  wind,  instead  of  towards  it,  and  in  this 
position  it  was  possible  to  make  out  an  object  forty  or 
fifty  feet  away.  Ned  said  it  was  quite  as  bewildering  as 
a  snowstorm,  and  far  more  disagreeable.  The  sand 
sought  out  the  crevices  in  one's  clothing,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  we  felt  as  though  our  garments  had  been 
dipped  and  rolled  in  the  sand  before  we  put  them  on.   ^ 

The  party  was  unable  to  keep  to  the  route  as  long  as 
the  storm  lasted.  The  howling  of  the  wind  was  so  great 
that  when  the  travelers  wished  to  speak  to  one  another 
they  were  obliged  to  come  close  together  and  shout  at 
the  top  of  their  voices.  The  doctor  suggested  going  into 
camp,  but  Renaud  opposed  it,  and  proposed  a  simple 
bivouac  instead.  He  said  it  would  be  useless  to  try  to 
form  a  camp,  as  the  tents  could  not  be  set  up  in  that  tre- 
mendous wind.  Even  the  very  low  tents  of  the  Arabs 
could  not  be  set  up,  as  the  tent-pegs  would  not  hold  dur- 
ing the  time  it  took  to  drive  them  into  the  ground. 

The  camels,  some  of  them,  at  least,  thrust  their  noses  into 
the  ground  to  avoid  inhaling  the  sand  which  was  flying  in 
the  wind.  Dr.  Whitney  put  on  his  outdoor  spectacles, 
and  tied  a  silk  handkerchief  over  his  face  like  a  veil ;  in 
this  way  he  kept  the  sand  out  of  his  nostrils,  but  in  spite 
of  his  precaution  he  was  blinded  and  almost  suffocated. 
The  youths  followed  his  example,  and  were  glad  that  they 
did  so,  but  they  only  relieved  themselves  of  one  degree  of 
suffering  by  taking  another  that  was  only  a  little  less. 


CAUGHT    IN    A    SAND-STORM.  IO5 

The  storm  lasted  about  four  hours,  and  then  the  wind 
began  to  abate.  In  half  an  hour  it  had  diminished  to  a 
mere  zephyr,  and  thirty  minutes  after  that  the  wind  that 
blew  was  not  sufficient  to  move  the  sand  in  appreciable 
quantities.  As  the  wind  died  away  the  journey  was 
resumed,  though  a  little  time  was  required  for  getting 
the  camels  together,  some  of  them  having  strayed  during 
the  storm. 

"Traveling  in  the  desert  is  monotonous,  as  one  can 
easily  imagine.  The  landscape  does  not  vary  greatly  ;  in 
fact,  it  is  more  monotonous  than  the  road  itself.  We  take 
observations  for  latitude  and  longitude  every  day  when  it 
is  convenient  to  do  so,  although  there  is  no  real  occasion 
for  it,  as  our  guides  are  familiar  with  the  route  and  know 
the  best  places  for  halting  in  the  daytime  or  camping  in 
the  evening.  We  have  become  accustomed  to  camel 
riding,  and,  though  I  can't  say  we  like  it,  we  do  not  find 
it  as  unpleasant  as  on  the  first  day  that  we  undertook  to 
ride  the  queer-looking  beasts. 

''And  this  reminds  me  of  the  white  camels  of  the 
Tuaregs, — immense  creatures,  very  powerful,  finely 
formed,  and  as  white  as  one  usually  sees  a  white  horse  ; 
not  absolutely  pure  white,  but  very  near  it.  These 
camels  are  carefully  bred  in  the  middle  of  the  desert, 
where  the  Tuaregs  make  their  homes.  The  people  are 
very  jealous  about  allowing  this  breed  of  camels  to  go 
into  other  hands.  They  absolutely  refuse  to  sell  them,  no 
matter  what  price  may  be  offered,  and  the  few  that  have 
been  brouorht  north  of  the  Atlas  Mountains  were  obtained  in 
the  battles  with  the  Tuaregs  where  they  got  the  worst  of  it. 


I06  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

"We  saw  four  of  these  camels  to-day,  and  their  great 
size  astonished  us.  They  carry  enormous  burdens,  will 
travel  seventy  or  eighty  miles  a  day,  and  go  for  eighteen 
or  twenty  days  without  water.  The  Tuaregs  frequently 
come  to  Tuggurt  with  these  camels,  and  occasionally  to 
Biskra,  but  never  beyond  the  latter  place,  as  the  animals 
cannot  endure  cold  weather  or  anything  that  approaches 
it. 

"  I  have  been  somewhat  disappointed,  though  agreeably 
so,  in  the  character  of  the  desert  since  we  left  the  Oued 
Ghir.  I  thought  it  would  be  nothing  but  shifting  sands, 
very  difficult  to  travel  through,  but  we  found,  on  the 
contrary,  for  more  than  half  the  way  no  sand  worth  speak- 
ing of,  but  bare,  hard,  desert  earth,  like  any  ordinary 
earth  deprived  of  verdure.  Where  we  found  this  kind  of 
road  we  have  ridden  our  horses ;  where  we  had  sandy 
roads  we  exchanged  horses  for  camels. 

''  Although  we  have  a  safe-conduct  among  the  Tuaregs, 
we  realize  that  we  are  in  a  dangerous  country,  and  may 
be  attacked  at  night  by  these  marauders,  who  do  not 
always  wait  to  ascertain  whom  they  are  attacking.  Con- 
sequently, when  we  camp  at  night  we  prepare  for  re- 
sistance. All  the  baggage  is  piled  in  front  of  our  tent  so 
as  to  make  a  good  barricade,  and  we  take  turns  in  watch- 
ing through  the  night. 

"  Renaud  put  one  of  our  Arabs  on  watch  the  first 
night ;  Harry  and  I  happened  to  be  awake  about  mid- 
night, and  went  out  to  see  how  the  watching  was  going 
on.  We  came  upon  our  sentry  sitting  on  the  ground  near 
our  tent,  his  gun  lying  by  his  side,  and  he  leaning  against 


CAUGHT    IN    A    SAND-STORM.  IO7 

our  baggage,  and  sound  asleep.  We  took  away  the  fel- 
low's weapon,  and  then  waked  him,  and  sent  him  off  to 
where  the  camels  were  picketed.  Then  I  took  my  rifle, 
and  stood  guard  for  two  hours,  when  Harry  relieved  me  ; 
when  his  two  hours  were  up  he  called  Renaud,  who 
stood  guard  for  the  rest  of  the  night  until  daybreak. 

''  After  that  the  watching  was  divided  between  the 
doctor,  ourselves,  and  Renaud,  as  we  did  not  dare  to 
trust  any  of  our  Arabs.  We  did  not  apply  military  law 
to  our  man  and  put  him  to  death  for  sleeping  at  his  post, 
but  if  we  had  followed  Renaud's  desires  I  think  we 
should  have  done  so.  Renaud  was  master  of  the  camp, 
and  while  we  were  at  breakfast  he  administered  a  sound 
thrashing  to  the  unfortunate  fellow  who  allowed  himself 
to  go  to  sleep  while  on  duty. 

"  On  the  fifth  day  we  had  a  long  and  toilsome  march, 
and  did  not  reach  a  camping  place  until  after  dark,  and 
the  camp  was  made  in  a  valley  where  there  was  a  well  of 
brackish  water,  suitable  for  camels,  but  unfit  for  human 
use.  The  valley  was  used  for  camping  by  travelers  and 
caravans  of  various  sorts,  including  the  Tuaregs.  As 
we  descended  the  side  of  the  valley,  Renaud,  who  was  in 
advance,  suddenly  stopped,  and  called  attention  to  a  light, 
perhaps  half  a  mile  away,  and  suggested  that  we  get  our 
guns  in  readiness  as  there  was  a  strong  probability  of  a 
fight. 

*'We  put  everything  in  order,  carrying  our  rifles  un- 
slung,  and  each  buckling  on  a  revolver.  We  changed 
our  course  so  that,  instead  of  passing  directly  by  the  light, 
which   was  in  the  center  of  the  valley,  we  would  come 


I08  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

down  upon  it  in  file.  Renaud  told  us  to  walk  our  horses 
until  within  a  few  yards  of  the  light,  then  he  would  give  a 
signal  and  we  would  trot  past  the  light  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible. If  any  shots  were  fired  after  us,  we  were  to  return 
the  fire,  first  from  our  rifles,  and  then  from  our  revolvers. 
The  horsemen  were  to  be  in  front,  while  the  camels 
brought  up  the  rear. 

"When  all  was  ready  we  moved  on,  the  doctor  and 
Renaud  in  front,  then  Harry  and  I,  and  behind  us  the 
camels.  The  horses  seemed  to  snuff  the  battle,  not  far  off, 
but  close  by,  and  they  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  thing 
with  considerable  enthusiasm.  My  heart  began  to  beat 
so  that  I  could  hear  it,  but  I  think  I  was  quite  as  cool  as 
anybody  else. 

"  Within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  camp  we  halted  and 
our  chief  camel  driver  crept  up  to  reconnoiter.  He  said 
there  were  ten  or  twelve  men  there  with  a  single  tent  such 
as  nearly  all  tribes  of  Arabs  use  in  the  Sahara.  He 
could  see  that  they  had  weapons  and  horses,  but  there 
were  no  camels  in  sight. 

"  On  receiving  this  information,  Renaud  gave  the  order 
to  advance.  As  we  came  close  to  the  camp,  he  shouted 
in  Arabic :  — 

''  '  We  are  Mozabites.' 

*'  The  men  around  the  little  fire  rose  to  their  feet,  and 
greeted  us  with  a  yell,  together  with  the  words  :  — 

*'  '  Friends  !     Friends  I ' 

"It  was  all  right;  they  were  friends, —  a  party  from 
Waregla  on  their  way  to  Tuggurt.  Very  quickly  we 
dismounted,  laid  aside  our  weapons,  and  gathered  around 


CAUGHT    IN    A    SAND-STORM.  IO9 

a  large  basket  of  dates,  which  our  newly  formed  friends 
set  out  as  a  welcome.  It  turned  out  that  they  had  been 
on  the  alert  just  as  much  as  we  had,  as  they  had  heard  in 
the  stillness  of  the  night  the  approach  of  horses'  feet. 
They  had  just  taken  their  weapons  in  hand  when  we  rode 
up,  and  were  quite  ready  for  business,  when  they  heard 
the  announcement  of  Mozabites. 

''The  statement  was  not  strictly  true.  We  had  two 
Mozabites  among  our  camel  drivers,  and  that  was  all ; 
but  the  announcement  suited  the  situation  for  all  practical 
purposes,  and  the  circumstances  weie  not  convenient  for 
reading  the  names  and  nationalities  of  those  who  com- 
posed the  party." 


CHAPTER   VII. 

INSIGHT    OF  WAREGLA AN    ARAB    DINNER. 

THE  two  parties  camped  together  on  the  night  de- 
scribed at  the  end  of  the  last  chapter,  and  congratu- 
lated one  another  on  their  narrow  escape  from  needless 
shedding  of  blood.  The  wind  rose  soon  after  our  friends 
had  formed  camp,  and  great  quantities  of  sand  were 
whisked  about  in  the  strong  breeze.  Fuel  was  scarce, 
and,  as  the  hour  was  late,  the  doctor  decided  that  they 
would  not  take  the  trouble  to  cook  dinner,  but  would 
make  a  meal  from  dates,  biscuits,  and  cheese,  washed 
down  with  water  taken  from  one  of  the  water-skins  of 
their  cargo.  The  place  where  they  camped  was  sandy, 
and  with  the  wind  blowing  as  it  was  they  could  not  make 
the  tent  pegs  hold.  They  formed  a  screen  by  placing 
the  camels  in  a  row,  and  then  requiring  them  to  kneel ; 
by  the  row  of  kneeling  camels  they  placed  the  baggage, 
and  within  this  circle  tethered  the  horses,  and  spread 
their  sleeping  bags  on  the  ground.  Harry  named  the 
encampment  Hotel  "a  la  Belle  Etoile  (Hotel  of  the  Open 
Sky),  and  said  there  were  few'  hotels  in  the  world  with 
better  ventilation. 

There  was  not  ,  much  sleep  in  the  camp  that  night, 
partly  because  it  was  after  midnight  before  the  travelers 
got  to  bed,  and  between  that  time  and  morning  the  horses 

no 


IN    SIGHT    OF   WAREGLA.  Ill 

got  loose  several  times,  and  mixed  themselves  up  with 
the  sleepers,  and,  furthermore,  the  drifting  sands  spread 
thickly  over  them,  so  that  they  roused  themselves  every 
hour  or  so  to  avoid  being  buried  out  of  sight.  They  kept 
a  careful  watch  all  through  the  night  and  broke  camp  at 
five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Sleeping  under  difficulties 
like  these  tends  very  much  towards  early  rising. 

After  three  or  four  hours  of  marching,  the  party  halted 
on  the  side  of  a  range  of  hills  which  Ned  describes  in  his 
journal  as  resembling  a  series  of  forts,  as  they  stand  at 
regular  intervals  from  each  other,  and  are  flat  on  the 
tops.  The  doctor  said  that  the  tops  of  these  hills  were 
worn  away  by  the  waves  of  the  ocean  which  formerly 
spread  all  over  this  part  of  Africa.  The  broad  plain 
around  them  is  considerably  elevated  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  and  during  all  their  journey  since  leaving 
the  Oued  Ghir  our  friends  had  been  gradually  ris- 
ing. After  passing  this  line  of  hills  and  going  a  few 
miles  further,  the  party  suddenly  came  upon  the  edge 
of  an  immense  terrace,  and  looked  down  upon  a  plain 
which  was  apparently  limitless. 

The  doctor  and  the  youths  were  in  advance  as  they 
reached  the  edge  of  the  terrace.  They  halted  and  looked 
over  the  immense  area  before  them,  just  as  they  had 
looked  from  the  hill  beyond  Biskra  over  the  great  area 
of  the  northern  Sahara.  A  few  minutes  after  they  halted 
Renaud  joined  them,  and  as  he  rode  up  to  the  edge  of  the 
terrace  he  waved  his  hand,  as  if  to  embrace  all  that  part 
of  the  country  beyond  it. 

*' There,"  said   he,    "is  the  true   desert;    there    is  not 


112  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

another  break  in  it  between  this  point  and  the  valley  of 
the  Niger,  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon,  and  Timbuctoo. 

"You  see  that  white  spot  in  the  distance?"  he  con- 
tinued, pointing  to  the  south;  "that's  Waregla,  the  last 
oasis  in  Northern  Africa." 

"  Not  a  break  whatever  !  "  exclaimed  Ned.  "  Is  there 
no  other  settlement,  or  oasis,  or  place  where  men  live 
between  here  and  the  Niger?  " 

"Yes.  There  are  a  few  wells  and  habitable  spots,  or, 
rather,  spots  where  one  can  find  water,  but  there  is  no 
oasis  large  enough  to  support  any  appreciable  number 
of  people.  Off  towards  the  west  is  the  oasis  of  Touat, 
which  is  on  the  caravan  route  to  Timbuctoo.  It's  a  long 
journey  from  here  to  Touat,  and  a  longer  one  to  Timbuc- 
too ;  you  can  find  water  every  five  or  six  days,  though 
sometimes  the  wells  are  dried  up,  and,  unless  you  have 
an  extra  supply  against  such  contingencies,  the  whole 
caravan  may  perish  of  thirst." 

Then  the  party  descended  from  the  plateau  to  the  lower 
ground,  and  pushed  on  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Ned 
observed  before  they  left  their  point  of  observation  that 
the  desert  below  them  presented  the  appearance  of  a 
sandy  beach,  and  the  great  plain  beyond  them  resembled 
a  vast  sea  or  lake.  He  could  almost  hear  the  rippling  of 
the  waves,  while  the  headland  to  the  south,  as  they  rode 
along,  presented  the  appearance  of  a  deep  bay,  very 
much  like  that  of  Alfjiers,  and  he  half  believed  that  he 
was  looking  over  the  Mediterranean,  instead  of  the  great 
waste  of  sand  extending  hundreds  of  miles  away  to  the 
mysterious  river. 


IN    SIGHT    OF    WAREGLA.  II3 

The  party  hurried  on,  as  Waregla  was  a  good  distance 
away,  and  they  did  not  wish  to  spend  another  night  in  the 
desert.  They  passed  a  small  oasis  a  mile  or  so  to  the 
right  of  their  route,  the  oasis  of  N'goussa,  and  Harry 
remarked  that  its  grove  of  palm  trees  resembled  a  forest 
of  masts  in  the  sandy  haze.  Then  their  route  wound 
among  some  round-topped  hills,  a  hundred  or  more  feet 
in  height,  covered  with  tamarisk  bushes  and  other  small 
plants  of  the  desert. 

Yusef  told  the  youths  that  these  mounds  were  called 
El  Behkerat,  which  means  "  young  camels."  He  said 
the  name  comes  from  a  story  that  one  day,  hundreds  of 
years  ago,  a  caravan  of  camels  halted  at  a  well  in  this 
neighborhood  to  get  some  water.  There  was  a  palm 
grove  here  then,  and  an  old  man  was  at  the  well  drawing 
water  for  his  palm  trees.  The  leader  of  the  caravan 
came  up  to  the  well,  and  said  insultingly  :  — 

*'  Make  haste,  thou  vile  son  of  a  black  raven." 

Without  knowing  it,  he  had  insulted  a  saint  of  the 
Moslem  religion ;  a  holy  man  who  had  power  over  nearly 
everything.  The  saint  was  angry  at  being  addressed  in 
this  manner;  he  turned  his  face  towards  heaven,  and 
stretched  out  his  hands..  The  camels  that  had  been  stand- 
ing there  waiting  their  turn  to  drink  la}^  down  imme- 
diately, and  were  transformed  into  sandhills,  and  the 
well  instantly  dried  up  and  has  been  dry  ever  since. 

Harry  was  skeptical  as  to  the  truth  of  the  story, 
whereupon  Yusef  remarked  :  — 

'*If  you  don't  believe  it,  sir,  look  at  the  mounds  into 
which  the  camels  were  transformed." 


114  ^^    WILD    AFRICA. 

As  the  party  approached  Waregla,  a  sand  mist  rose  on 
the  plain  in  front  of  them,  and  beneath  it  the  surface  of 
the  desert  ghstened  Hke  the  waters  of  a  broad  river. 
Again  was  the  doctor  deceived,  and  it  is  proper  to  say 
that  the  youths  were  deceived  Hkewise.  The  doctor 
thought  it  was  a  marsh,  and  afterwards  admitted  that  he 
was  on  the  point  of  wrapping  a  handkerchief  around  his 
face  to  keep  out  the  malarial  atmosphere,  but  remembered 
his  previous  deception  just  in  time.  Beyond  this  imaginary 
river,  stretching  away  for  a  considerable  distance,  was  a 
dense  oasis  of  date  palms,  and  in  the  middle  of  them 
three  tall  minarets  indicated  the  position  of  Waregla. 

One  of  the  servants  was  mounted  on  a  horse  and  sent 
forward  to  notify  the  sheikh  or  agha  of  Waregla  of  the 
arrival  of  the  party.  In  accordance  with  the  custom  that 
generally  prevails  in  Arabic  countries,  the  doctor  had 
brought  a  letter  from  the  governor  of  Biskra  to  Sibi 
Zobeir,  the  agha  of  Waregla,  who  is  a  close  friend  of  the 
French  Government  and  rules  his  people  very  much  in  his 
own  way. 

*'We  rode  into  the  palm  grove,"  said  Harry  in  his 
journal,  "  and  then  halted  to  wait  for  a  reply  to  our 
letter.  We  waited  an  hour  or  more,  and  then,  becoming 
impatient,  rode  up  to  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  there 
halted.  The  gateway  is  a  massive  one,  and  is  known  as 
the  Bab  el  Soultaun  (Sultan's  Gate).  Several  of  the 
natives  greeted  us  as  we  rode  along,  and  all  seemed 
friendly.  The  people  were  quite  different  from  any  we 
had  yet  seen.  They  were'  very  swarthy,  and  not  a  few 
were  black,  with  negro  features.     The  women  wore  their 


AT    WAREGLA.  Il5 

hair  in  ringlets  and  braided  in  plaits  at  the  back  of  their 
heads,  and  they  were  covered  with  ornaments  of  red 
beads  and  gold  and  silver  coins.  They  certainly  had  a 
liberal  quantity  of  negro  blood  in  their  veins,  as  their  hair 
was  in  nearly  every  case  more  or  less  frizzled.  We 
waited  at  the  gate  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  then 
our  messenger  came  out  and  said  we  should  have  an 
escort  immediately.  In  another  fifteen  minutes  a  horse- 
man mounted  on  a  magnificent  steed  rode  out,  accom- 
panied by  two  followers.  He  greeted  us  cordially,  and 
requested  us  to  mount  and  accompany  him,  which,  of 
course,  we  did. 

*' We  rode  into  the  city  and  came  to  a  halt  in  front  of 
an  ordinary  building  presenting  a  plain  wall  to  the  street, 
with  a  single  doorway.  Here  our  escort  dismounted,  and 
we  did  likewise.  After  a  little  delay,  he  took  us  into  the 
interior  of  the  building,  to  the  reception-room  of  the  agha, 
Sibi  Zobeir,  a  handsome  Arab,  fully  six  feet  high,  with  a 
dark  complexion,  oval  face,  and  a  prominent  nose  slightly 
hooked,  slender  fingers,  dark,  but  not  heavy  beard 
trimmed  to  a  point,  and  an  expression  of  marked  dignity 
and  serenity.  A  glance  from  him  towards  those  around 
him  showed  him  to  be  of  high  extraction,  and  if  the 
desert  of  Sahara  possesses  any  blue-blooded  aristocracy, 
he  was  certainly  one  of  the  highest  of  the  kind.  He 
received  us  courteously,  and  as  we  squatted  on  the  divan 
to  which  he  motioned  us  servants  came  in  with  pipes  and 
coffee  for  our  refreshment. 

"  The  agha  had  the  good  sense  to  know  that  a  long 
interview  would  not  be  agreeable  to  us,  as  we  were  just  in 


Il6  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

from  the  desert  and  undoubtedly  desired  to  change  oiir 
wardrobe  and  have  something  to  eat.  He  said  he  had 
read  our  letter,  welcomed  us  hospitably  to  Waregla,  and 
he  explained,  through  our  interpreter,  that  he  would  gladly 
do  anything  that  he  could  for  us  ;  then  he  rose  to  intimate 
that  the  audience  was  at  an  end,  whereupon  the  officer 
who  had  escorted  us  from  the  gate  took  charge  of  us 
again. 

"  He  led  the  way  to  a  building,  perhaps  a  hundred  yards 
from  that  occupied  by  the  agha,  taking  us  into  a  square 
courtyard  into  which  several  rooms  opened.  We  selected 
the  largest  of  the  rooms,  which  was  about  twenty  feet 
square  and  quite  bare  of  furniture  of  any  kind.  But  it 
did  not  long  remain  empty,  as  the  agha  sent  us  a  thick 
carpet  to  spread  on  the  floor,  and  a  large  bundle  of  rugs 
on  which  we  might  recline.  Our  camels  were  waiting 
for  us  when  we  were  taken  to  the  building,  and  most  of 
the  baggage  had  been  removed  and  placed  on  the  ground. 
A  part  of  it  was  piled  in  one  of  the  other  rooms,  and  such 
as  we  needed  immediately  was  put  into  our  own.  Very 
quickly  we  opened  our  trunks,  not  the  ordinary  trunks  of 
civilization,  but  soft  ones  of  leather  made  especially  for 
transportation  on  camel-back,  and  resembling  huge  valises. 
We  did  not  array  ourselves  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  but 
we  did  put  on  better-looking  clothing  than  what  we  were 
then  wearing. 

*' Just  as  we  finished  our  toilet  preparations  we  received 
a  bountiful  supply  ,of  dates  and  camel's  milk,  which  the 
aiiha  sent  to  us.  Renaud  said  that  we  would  receive 
something  more  shortl}^,  and  advised  us  to  eat  lightly  of 


AT    WAREGLA.  II7 

the  proffered  dainties.  We  acted  upon  his  advice,  and 
after  partaking  sparingly  of  the  articles,  gave  the  re- 
mainder to  our  followers,  by  whom  it  was  quickly  des- 
]  atched.  Less  than  an  hour  later  two  Arabs  appeared 
bearing  on  their  shoulders  the  carcass  of  a  sheep,  spitted 
on  a  long  pole  ;  it  had  been  roasted  in  its  skin,  or,  rather, 
baked  in  hot  ashes.  We  squatted  on  the  floor  of  our 
room,  two  on  one  side  of  the  sheep,  and  the  third  on  the 
other,  the  Arabs  holding  the  carcass  between  us. 

**Then  a  servant  of  the  agha  who  accompanied  them 
proceeded  to  cut  off  morsels,  or,  rather,  tear  them  off  with 
his  fingers  after  slicing  the  carcass  with  his  knife.  When 
he  came  upon  a  particularly  choice  bit  he  put  it  into  our 
mouths  with  his  fingers.  Possibly  our  hunger  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it,  but  all  agreed  that  we  had  never  tasted 
a  nicer  piece  of  mutton,  not  excepting  even  the  South- 
down of  England  or  the  famous  mutton  of  Kentucky. 
We  think  we  have  discovered  a  new  mode  of  cookincr 
mutton  which  we  will  introduce  when  we  go  home  to 
America.  The  wool  is  plucked  from  the  carcass  imme- 
diately after  the  animal  is  slain,  and  then  the  skin  is 
thoroughly  singed,  just  as  a  chicken  is  singed  before  roast- 
ing or  baking.  The  skin  being  on  the  sheep  during  the 
process  of  cooking  forms  a  protection  for  the  juices  of  the 
meat  and  makes  an  excellent  "  crackling." 

*' After  the  sheep  we  were  served  with  liver  skewered 
on  sticks  and  cooked  over  a  fire.  They  gave  us  no  bread 
or  vegetables,  and  we  fell  back  on  our  supply  of  biscuits 
and  upon  some  bread  which  Renaud  had  bought  in  the 
market.     No  wine  or  drink  of  any  kind  was  offered  us ; 


Il8  IN    ^VILD    AFRICA. 

of  course,  we  didn't  expect  wine  when  it  was  forbidden  by 
the  Koran  to  all  good  Moslems,  and  we  now  regretted 
having  given  all  the  camel's  milk  to  our  followers. 

"  In  about  half  an  hour  after  the  arrival  of  the  sheep 
there  came  another  course  of  our  dinner.  This  was  a 
dish  of  kouskousou,  which  is  generally  abbreviated  to 
*  kouskous.'  It  was  brought  by  two  servants  and  placed 
on  the  floor  in  front  of  us  in  a  large  covered  dish,  and 
was  smoking  hot.  Kouskous  is  the  principal  food  of  the 
natives  of  Algeria,  and  when  well  cooked  it  is  an  excellent 
dish,  being  palatable  as  well  as  nourishing.  It  is  made 
of  barley  or  wheat  meal  coarsely  ground ;  the  grinding 
being  done  by  the  women  of  the  household.  When  a 
dish  of  kouskous  is  required  the  meal  is  placed  in  a  shallow 
pan  about  two  feet  in  diameter,  and  a  little  milk  or  water 
is  poured  over  it.  It  is  allowed  to  soak  a  little  while,  and 
then  the  meal  is  rubbed  in  the  palms  of  the  hands  into 
little  pellets  which  resemble  grains  of  rice.  Afterwards, 
these  pellets  are  slowly  steamed  for  two  or  three  hours, 
and  when  the  steaming  is  completed  the  casual  observer 
might  suppose  that  he  was  looking  at  a  dish  of  boiled 
ric 

"  In  this  condition  it  is  eaten  by  the  poorer  natives  after 
a  little  salt  is  sprinkled  over  it.  Those  who  can  afford  to 
do  so  mix  dates,  raisins,  or  other  fruit  of  any  kind  with 
the  steamed  meal,  and  on  the  top  of  the  whole  pour  a 
quantity  of  milk  or  rich  broth.  If  they  have  broth  to  pour 
over  it,  the  natural  conclusion  is  that  they  have  the  meat 
from  which  it  was  made.  If  so,  the  meat,  whether  mutton 
or  fowl,  is  laid  on  the  top  of  the  dish  and  the  guests  pull 


AT    WAREGLA.  II9 

off  morsels  of  it  while  they  eat.  Bear  in  mind  that  no 
spoons,  knives,  or  forks  are  used.  The  party  sit  on  the 
floor  around  the  bowl  and  eat  with  their  fingers.  If  you 
want  to  realize  the  force  of  the  adage  that  '  fingers  were 
made  before  forks '  you  can  do  so  by  eating  an  Arab 
dinner.  Sometimes  the*  meat  is  cut  or  torn  into  small 
pieces  and  mixed  in  with  the  other  materials.  This  is 
not,  however,  the  regular  Arab  style,  the  dish  in  that  case 
resembling  more  nearly  a  Turkish  pilauf  than  the  Arab 
kouskous. 

"After  the  kouskous  came  coffee,  and  it  was  the  best 
cup  of  coffee  we  had  seen  since  leaving  Tuggurt.  The 
agha  evidently  knew  what  good  living  was  from  an 
Arabic  point  of  view.  Doubtless,  he  would  have  been 
puzzled  if  seated  at  Delmonico's  table  in  New  York,  and 
would  have  enjoyed  his  own  dishes  better  than  those  of 
western  civilization,  but  he  is  so  much  a  gentleman  that  I 
am  sure  he  would  have  eaten  heartily  and  praised  every- 
thing that  he  touched. 

"It  was  pretty  late  when  our  feast  was  finished,  and 
when  everything  w^as  cleared  away  we  were  not  long  in 
getting  to  bed.  The  quantity  of  food  which  the  agha 
sent  us  was  six  times  as  much  as  w^e  could  devour,  but 
our  followers,  together  with  the  servants  who  had  brought 
it,  made  short  work  of  everything  that  was  left.  Renaud 
told  us  in  the  morning  there  was  absolutely  nothing  to  be 
taken  back  except  the  dishes. 

"Although  we  were  very  tired,  we  did  not  sleep  well 
during  the  night,  owing  to  the  noise  that  was  made  in  the 
courtyard.     There  was  a  fire  in  the  center  of  the  yard. 


I20  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

and  around  it  were  gathered  not  only  our  own  people,  but 
a  good  many  others,  who  kept  up  a  continuous  stream  of 
talking  from  sunset  to  sunrise.  Our  camels  were  in  the 
courtyard,  and  so  were  our  horses.  The  latter  were 
picketed  rather  too  close  together  for  quietness,  and  every 
little  while  they  would  indulge  in  a  kicking  and  squealing 
match  in  order  to  keep  their  limbs  from  rusting.  There 
was  no  door  to  our  apartment,  and  so  we  hung  up  a  part 
of  our  tent  as  a  curtain.  This  improvised  curtain  was  not 
thick  enough  to  keep  out  the  noise,  or  even  to  refine  it; 
however,  we  managed  to  get  a  little  sleep,  though  not  as 
much  as  any  of  us  wanted. 

"  We  lifted  our  curtain  at  a  reasonably  early  hoiftr  in 
the  morning,  but,  early  as  it  was,  we  found  the  courtyard 
well  filled  with  visitors.  Some  of  the  agha's  servants  and 
officers  were  in  the  courtyard,  and  one  of  the  latter  went 
to  notify  his  chief  that  our  door  was  open.  He  came  in 
about  half  an  hour,  accompanied  by  his  brother,  the  kadi 
of  the  city,  and  three  or  four  pipe-bearers.  Quite  a  crowd 
of  ragtag  and  bobtail  followed  them,  all  curious  to  get  a 
peep  at  the  foreigners,  since  very  few  whites  other  than 
French  officers  and  soldiers  have  ever  visited  Waregla. 

"A  few  English  have  been  there,  but,  as  far  as  we 
could  ascertain,  we  were  the  first  Americans.  It  was 
noised  around  that  we  came  from  America,  and  this  in- 
tensified the  curiosity  to  look  at  us.  Very  few  of  the 
people  had  any  idea  where  America  was.  Some  thought 
it  was  an  island  near  Great  Britain  or  France ;  others 
believed  that  it  was  situated  somewhere  in  the  Pacific  or 
Atlantic  Oceans,  they  didn't  know  which.     Geography  is 


AT    WAREGLA.  121 

very  little  taught  in  Arab  countries,  and,  least  of  all, 
in  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  Sahara.  I  doubt  if  one  in 
twenty  of  the  natives  in  Waregla  ever  heard  of  America 
before  our  arrival,  and  not  one  in  a  hundred  ever  heard  of 
the  United  States. 

"  The  agha  was  very  polite  and  proposed  that  we  should 
go  on  horseback  to  visit  the  city  after  we  had  taken 
breakfast.  He  suggested  that  it  might  not  be  safe  for  us 
to  go  alone,  and  that  his  brother,  with  several  officers, 
would  accompany  us.  The  interview  was  rather  a  long 
one ;  in  fact,  it  was  a  good  deal  longer  than  we  wished  it 
to  be.  All  our  conversation  was  carried  on  through 
Renaud,  who  was  a  very  good  interpreter ;  but  etiquette 
required  that  he  should  wait  until  a  question  or  suggestion 
was  propounded  before  he  could  say  anything.  Some- 
times there  would  be  pauses  of  five  or  ten  minutes  when 
it  was  the  agha's  turn  to  speak,  but  his  serenity  was  not 
disturbed  in  the  least,  and  we  began  to  wonder  if  he  would 
ever  go  away.  We  wanted  our  breakfast,  and,  as  the 
agha  had  intimated  that  it  was  being  prepared  for  us, 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  wait. 

"The  agha  left  a  little  before  noon,  his  brother  going 
with  him.  Shortly  after  their  departure  a  large  bowl  of 
kouskous  arrived  and  we  sat  down  to  eat  it ;  we  invited 
the  kadi  to  join  us,  but  he  refused,  though  he  asked  to  be 
permitted  to  remain  and  see  us  eat.  We  consented,. and 
he  looked  on  with  the  same  curiosity  that  he  might  bestow 
on  a  cage  of  wild  animals  at  their  morning  repast.  A 
crowd  of  inferior  Arabs  thronged  the  doorway,  several  of 
them  working  their  way  into  the  room  for  the  same  reason 


122  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

that   the    kadi   remained ;    they   wanted    to   see    how    the 
foreigners  fed  themselves. 

"After  breakfast,  we  started  out  upon  the  proposed 
excursion,  accompanied  by  the  kadi,  several  other  officers, 
and  about  twenty  soldiers  or  retainers,  all  mounted.  It 
was  rather  an  imposing  cavalcade,  and  not  a  good  arrange- 
ment for  sight-seeing  ;  we  would  have  preferred  going  on 
foot,  but  this  was  vehemently  opposed  by  the  agha,  who 
was  afraid  we  might  get  into  trouble.  The  letter  which 
we  brought  from  the  governor  of  Biskra  not  only  secured 
us  the  friendship  and  hospitality  of  the  agha,  but  it  also 
made  him,  in  a  certain  sense,  responsible  for  us.  He 
knew  that  he  would  be  severely  blamed  if  we  got  into  any 
trouble  while  in  his  care,  and  was,  therefore,  determined 
to  keep  us  constantly  under  his  protection. 

"  We  found  that  the  city  had  a  triple  circuit  of  walls, 
which  were,  generally,  in  a  ruinous  condition.  The  outer 
wall  enclosed  a  broad,  open  space  where  cattle  could  be 
driven  in,  camels  loaded  and  unloaded,  and  caravans 
made  up.  The  middle  walls  were  greatly  dilapidated, 
and  could  have  been  torn  down  sufficiently  to  admit  the 
passage  of  troops  without  difficulty.  The  inmost  wall  was 
surrounded  by  a  broad,  though  not  very  deep  ditch, 
which  was  lined  at  its  edge  with  tamarisk  and  other 
bushes,  and  partly  filled  with  saltwater.  All  around  the 
city  were  palm  trees  extending  for  a  considerable  distance 
in  every  direction.  Renaud  told  us  that  the  palm  forest 
was  formerly  larger  .than  it  now  is,  owing  to  the  partial 
depopulation  of  the  town. 

"  Waregla  contains  about  thirteen  hundred  liouses,  many 


AT    WAREGLA.  1 23 

of  which  are  uninhabited.  The  city  is  an  old  one,  dating 
back  more  than  a  thousand  years,  and  some  say  it  had  its 
beginning  before  the  Christian  era.  In  the  last  twenty- 
five  years  it  has  lost  many  of  its  inhabitants  by  emigration  ; 
they  having  been  attracted  to  Biskra,  Tuggurt,  and  the 
Mozabite  cities,  owing  to  the  greater  safety  of  those  places 
from  the  depredations  of  hostile  tribes,  and  the  greater 
opportunities  for  making  money. 

*'  The  city  is  reached  by  four  gates  through  the  inmost 
wall,  and  there  is  a  bridge  over  the  ditch  at  each  of  these 
gates.  On  each  gateway  and  over  all  the  doors  of  the 
houses  we  found  Arabic  inscriptions  taken  from  the 
Koran,  and  we  also  observed  that  tl^  architecture  was 
decidedly  Saracenic  in  character.  Many  of  the  streets 
consisted  of  arched  passages,  the  arches  being  so  low  that 
we  were  frequently  obliged  to  stoop  our  faces  down  to  our 
horses'  necks  to  avoid  hitting  the  stones  above  us. 

"  Through  these  passages  we  went  mostly  in  single  file, 
and  on  each  side  of  us  there  were  rows  of  people  w4io 
wanted  to  see  the  strangers,  and  also  wanted,  many  of 
them,  to  have  their  disputes  settled  by  the  kadi.  The 
kadi  reminded  me  of  the  American  who  said  that  he  had  a 
very  busy  time  of  it,  as  he  managed  a  church,  a  saw-mill, 
and  a  gambling-house  all  at  the  same  time.  The  kadi 
was  obliged,  simultaneously,  to  return  the  salutes  of  the 
people,  settle  quarrels  and  administer  justice,  and  also  be 
polite  to  his  guests. 

"  It  is  the  custom  in  Waregla,  whenever  the  kadi  or  the 
agha  appears  in  public,  to  appeal  to  him  for  the  settle- 
ment of  disputes,  and  very  often  the  parties  to  the  quarrel 


124  ^^    WII.D    AFRICA. 

make  things  very  lively.  At  the  corner  of  the  souk,  or 
market-place,  the  kadi  was  called  upon  to  decide  the 
ownership  of  a  horse,  the  claimants,  and  also  the  animal, 
being  present.  The  trial  lasted  about  fifteen  minutes, 
and  the  battle  of  words  was  so  loud  as  to  be  audible  all 
over  the  souk.  We  were  not  at  all  sorry  for  these  inter- 
ruptions, as  they  gave  us  a  chance  to  look  around  at  the 
crowd  of  people  and  the  architecture  of  the  buildings. 

"  The  crowd  in  the  market-place  became  so  noisy  and 
pressed  upon  us  so  closely  that  our  escort  was  obliged  to 
beat  them  off  with  sticks.  When  this  happened,  the  kadi 
hurried  up  his  administration  of  justice  and  got  us  out  of  the 
souk  as  quickly  as  possible.  We  were  then  taken  to  the 
ruins  of  the  Kasbah,  or  palace  of  the  sultan ;  it  was 
the  residence  of  the  last  sultan  of  Waregla,  and  since  his 
deposition,  some  thirty  years  ago,  the  building  has  been 
allowed  to  go  to  ruin. 

"  I  heard  a  good  story,  which  is  worth  repeating,  about 
the  way  the  Wareglans  came  to  have  a  sultan.  For  hun- 
dreds of  years  they  were  governed  by  an  aristocracy,  or 
Council  of  Notables,  but  they  came  to  believe  that,  the 
antiquity  of  their  city  entitled  them  to  be  ruled  by  a  sultan  ; 
so  they  applied  to  the  Emperor  of  Morocco  to  give  them, 
as  king,  a  descendant  of  Mohammed,  the  Prophet  of 
Islam.  At  first  the  emperor  refused,  but,  as  the  Wareglans 
continued  obstinate,  he  offered  to  supply  them  with  one  of 
liis  sons  if  they  would  pay  for  him  his  weight  in  gold- 
dust.  They  were  very  anxious,  and  consented  at  once  ; 
he  sent  them  one  of  his  sons  who  weighed  about  three 
hundred  pounds,  having  been  fattened  up  for  the  occasion. 


AT    WAREGLA.  I  25 

They  accepted  him,  and  paid  in  gold-dust,  pound  for 
pound,  and  then  they  buiU  a  palace  for  him,  and  gave 
him  a  large  annual  revenue. 

"  In  more  recent  times  the  office  of  sultan  of  Waregla 
was  not  entirely  an  autocratic  one  ;  the  council  of  notables 
had  the  perogative  of  deposing  the  sultan  whenever  they 
liked,  but  they  notified  him  of  his  deposition  in  a  very 
delicate  way.  It  was  the  custom  for  a  band  of  musi- 
cians to  perform  in  front  of  his  private  apartments  every 
morning  at  the  hour  of  prayer.  If  they  omitted  at  any 
time  to  do  so,  it  was  understood  to  be  the  signal  for  the 
sultan  to  retire  into  private  life  and  make  way  for  his  suc- 
cessor. 

*'One  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  the  city  that  we 
visited  was  the  Hebrew  quarter,  which  reminded  us  very 
much  of  the  same  locality  at  Tuggurt.  In  Waregla  the 
Jews  have  their  own  streets  and  their  own  municipal  or- 
ganization, and  they  are  not  interfered  with  by  the  Mo- 
hammedans in  any  way  as  long  as  they  pay  their  taxes 
and  take  no  part  in  politics.  They  have  a  monopoly  of 
working  in  gold  and  silver,  and  their  products  in  this  line 
are  much  like  those  of  Tuggurt.  We  found  among  them 
some  curious  collections  of  old  coins ;  among  them  were 
some  coins  of  Castile,  in  Spain,  before  it  was  united  with 
Arragon ;  they  were  irregular  masses  of  silver,  weighing 
an  ounce,  and  stamped  rather  rudely  with  the  arms  of 
Castile  and  Leon.  They  had  also  some  coins  of  the 
Christian  kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  and  some  shekels  of 
very  ancient  date.  We  tried  to  buy  some  of  these  coins, 
but  did  not  succeed  in  purchasing  a  single  one,  owing  to 


126  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

the   suspicion   that   they   might   not  be  genuine,  and   also 
because  of  the  exorbitant  prices  demanded  for  them. 

''  These  Hebrews  of  Waregla  were  very  dark  in  color, 
darker  a  great  deal  than  the  Arabs,  and  almost  as  black 
as  negroes.  The  doctor  says  that  they  resemble  the 
Abyssinian  Jews  in  their  color,  and  also  in  their  features, 
which  are  entirely  Hebrew  without  the  slightest  trace  of 
negro  origin.  The  doctor  says  that  the  Jewish  race  forms 
a  fine  illustration  of  the  effect  of  climate  through  many 
generations.  Thus  the  Hebrews  of  northern  Europe  are 
generally  blonde ;  those  of  middle  Europe  are  between 
blonde  and  brunette  ;  those  of  Spain  and  Portugal  are  dis- 
tinct brunettes,  while  those  of  Africa,  Southern  Asia,  and 
the  Malay  Islands  are  black ;  but  all  have  the  same  fea- 
tures and  their  blood  has  been  kept  pure  through  many 
generations. 

"  We  asked  to  be  shown  through  the  bazaars  of  Ware- 
gla, but  were  decidedly  disappointed  when  we  saw  them. 
The  bazaars  are  not  extensive,  and  the  supply  of  goods  for 
sale  there  is  neither,  large  nor  picturesque.  Cotton  cloths, 
cutlery,  and  other  merchandise  from  France  could  be  seen 
there,  together  with  ostrich  feathers  and  eggs,  and  skins 
of  the  deer,  lion,  panther,  and  other  animals  found  in  or 
near  the  desert.  Evidently  the  people  have  little  to  buy 
with,  and  the  keepers  of  the  shops  receive  but  little  en- 
couragement. The  people  have  an  indolent  appearance, 
and  Renaud  tells  us  that  they  are  quite  satisfied  to  make  a 
living  without  troubling  themselves  to  lay  up  a  provision 
for  old  age." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

EXPLORING  WAREGLA HOME  OF  THE  TUAREGS. 

OUR  friends  spent  several  hours  in  exploring  the  streets 
and  market-place,  and  looking  in  the  shops  of  Ware- 
gla,  and,  though  they  were  frequently  closely  pressed  by  the 
populace  out  of  curiosity,  they  were  not  injured  or  insulted 
in  any  way,  and  at  the  end  of  their  promenade  they  re- 
turned safe  and  sound  to  their  quarters.  Before  taking 
leave  of  them,  the  kadi  said  he  had  been  instructed  to 
notify  them  that  the  agha  desired  the  trio  of  Americans  to 
dine  with  him.  The  doctor  accepted  on  behalf  of  his 
young  companions  and  himself,  and  said  he  would  be 
ready  when  wanted.  The  kadi  replied  that  an  escort 
would  come  for  them  at  the  proper  hour  for  dinner. 

A  little  before  sunset  the  agha's  brother,  accompanied  by 
two  officers,  called  at  the  lodgings  of  the  strangers,  and 
after  a  brief  pause  announced  that  he  had  come  to  take 
them  to  dinner.  The  doctor  had  ordered  pipes  and  coffee 
immediately  on  their  arrival,  and  time  was  taken  to  dispose 
of  these  refreshments  before  the  party  set  out.  The  lodg- 
ings of  our  friends  were  so  near  the  agha's  residence  that 
saddle  horses  were  quite  unnecessary,  but,  nevertheless, 
etiquette  required  that  the  journey  should  not  be  made  on 
foot.  The  escorting  party  came  on  horseback,  and  as 
Renaud  understood  well  the  customs  of  the  place,  he  had 

127 


128  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

the  horses  of  the  doctor  and  his  nephews  saddled  and  wait- 
ing. It  took  but  a  moment  to  reach  the  agha's  residence, 
where  the  party  dismounted  and  the  animals  were  led 
away. 

The  strangers  were  ushered  into  the  agha's  presence 
and  were  cordially  received.  Glasses  of  what  Ned  con- 
cluded must  be  sherbet  were  passed  around,  and  etiquette 
required  that  it  should  be  swallowed.  Harry  said  that  the 
liquor  tasted  more  like  water  colored  and  sweetened  than 
anything  else,  and  Renaud  told  him  afterwards  that  he 
had  guessed  the  situation  very  fairly.  As  before  stated, 
the  Moslems  do  not  drink  wine,  at  least,  not  in  public,  being 
forbidden  to  do  so  by  their  religion.  Consequently  their 
strongest  beverages  are  very  mild  when  regarded  from  an 
occidental  point  of  view. 

At  the  first  opportunity  Ned  asked  Renaud  how  sherbet 
was  made. 

"  It  is  nothing  more  nor  less,"  replied^Renaud,  **  than  the 
juice  of  fruits  mixed  with  water  and  diluted  to  a  condition 
of  weakness.  After  the  fruit  juices  and  water  are  mixed, 
the  composition  is  sweetened  just  as  we  sweeten  lemonade." 

"  In  other  words,"  said  Ned,  "  sherbet  is  simply  lemon- 
ade made  with  the  juices  of  fruits  instead  of  lemon  juice." 

''  Exactly  so,"  responded  the  Frenchman,  *'  and  if  there 
is  any  difference  it  is  that  sherbet  is  much  weaker  than 
our  lemonade.  One  might  drink  a  gallon  of  it  and  not 
feel  any  ill  consequences  in  the  way  of  headache  or  other 
malady ;  as  for  intoxication,  all  the  lakes  of  Switzerland 
made  into  sherbet  would  not  contain  enough  alcohol  to 
make  anybody  stagger." 


EXPLORING    WAREGLA.  1 29 

After  the  sherbet,  dinner  was  announced.  The  host  led 
the  way  into  another  apartment,  where  the  party  sat,  or 
squatted,  on  the  floor  around  a  low  table,  the  doctor  being 
at  the  side  of  the  agha,  while  the  agha's  brother  and  an- 
other officer  took  the  part  of  special  hosts  to  the  two 
youths.  Dates  and  camel's  milk  formed  the  first  course, 
a  roasted  sheep  the  second,  and  kouskousou  the  third. 
Before  they  began  eating,  a  servant  came  with  a  basin  and 
a  pitcher  of  brass,  the  pitcher  having  a  long  spout  like 
that  of  a  teapot,  and  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter  at  the 
end.  The  basin  was  held  under  the  hands  of  each  of  the 
party,  while  water  was  poured  over  them ;  then  the  hands 
were  dried  on  a  large  and  soft  towel,  and  one  after  another 
of  the  party  gave  evidence  to  all  the  rest  that  his  hands 
were  perfectly  clean.  This  is  a  ceremony  which  always 
precedes  a  Moslem  dinner.  Between  every  two  courses 
the  hands  are  washed,  and  not  infrequently  the  host  calls 
for  the  washing  equipments  while  a  course  is  being  eaten. 

As  already  stated,  a  Moslem  dinner  is  eaten  with  the 
fingers,  and  consequently  the  process  of  frequently  wash- 
ing the  hands  becomes  necessary.  It  removes  all  suspi- 
cion of  soiled  fingers  and  renders  much  less  disagreeable 
the  practice  of  the  host  using  his  own  fingers  to  put  choice 
morsels  into  the  mouth  of  his  guest.  When  a  sheep  is 
roasted  whole  and  placed  before  the  dinner  party,  it  must 
be  torn  in  pieces  with  the  fingers,  and  the  diners  would 
have  a  considerable  amount  of  grease  on  hand  at  the  end 
of  the  meal,  were  it  not  for  the  frequent  washing. 

The  meal  proceeded  with  little  interruption,  and  the 
pauses  between  the  courses  were  brief.     There  was  not 


130  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

much  conversation  during  the  dinner,  as  there  was  no  in- 
terpreter present,  and  the  agha's  stock  of  French  was 
about  equal  to  the  Arabic  of  our  friends.  The  doctor  and 
the  youths  had  been  careful  to  learn  as  many  compliment- 
ary words  and  phrases  in  Arabic  as  they  could,  and  they 
made  liberal  use  of  their  stock  of  knowledge  as  the  dinner 
progressed.  The  agha  seemed  greatly  pleased  at  the 
terms  of  satisfaction  in  which  they  spoke  of  the  dinner, 
and  at  each  expression  of  admiration  he  pressed  them  to 
eat  more.  Ned  whispered  to  Harry  that  it  would  be  well 
for  them  to  cease  their  commendations,  or  they  would  be 
compelled  to  eat  to  repletion.  Harry  took  the  hint,  and 
the  latter  portion  of  the  dinner  was  somewhat  more  sub- 
dued than  the  early  part. 

When  the  dinner  was  over  the  party  returned  to  the 
reception-room,  where  they  were  served  with  pipes  and 
coffee.  Soon  after  these  were  finished  the  agha  rose  as 
an  intimation  that  the  affair  was  at  an  end.  Then  our 
friends  bowed  themselves  out  and  found  their  horses  wait- 
ing at  the  door.  Renaud  had  received  the  hint  from  the 
agha's  servants  and  brought  the  horses  around  just  in  time. 

Before  our  friends  left  the  agha's  house  they  were 
invited  to  go  on  a  hunting  expedition  on  the  following  day, 
and  of  course  they  accepted.  They  were  to  take  break- 
fast with  the  agha,  and  start  with  him  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
game ;  the  agha  said  he  would  notify  them  when  to  come 
to  breakfast  by  sending  his  brother  to  escort  them. 

*'  I  wonder  what  kind  of  a  hunt  it  is  to  be,"  said  Ned. 
*'  Are  we  to  take  our  rifles,  or  shotguns,  or  will  the  agha 
furnish  the  weapons  ?  " 


EXPLORING    WAREGLA.  I3I 

**I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,"  replied  Harry.  **  Let's  go 
and  ask  the  doctor." 

The  question  was  referred  to  the  doctor,  whose  answer 
was  similar  to  that  of  Harry's.  He  did  not  know  what 
kind  of  a  hunt  was  intended. 

Then  Renaud  was  summoned,  but  he  was  equally  igno- 
rant. 

"But  I'll  go  and  see  some  of  the  agha's  servants  and 
find  out,"  said  Renaud. 

Off  went  the  faithful  Frenchman,  and  soon  returned. 
As  he  entered  the  apartment,  the  three  Americans 
turned  their  faces  towards  him  with  an  inquisitive  air. 

"The  agha  is  going  to  show  you  a  style  of  hunting 
which  may  be  new  to  you,"  said  Renaud,  raising  his  hand 
with  a  military  salute. 

"  Well,  which  is  it  to  be  —  shotguns  or  rifles?"  queried 
Ned. 

"Neither  of  them,"  Renaud  replied.  "You  are  to 
hunt  with  falcons,  and  not  carry  anything  at  all." 

"Won't  that  be  jolly ?"  exclaimed  Harry.  "Hunting 
with  falcons  just  as  though  we  were  carried  back  three  or 
four  centuries.      I'm  very  glad  to  hear  that." 

"So  am  I,"  said  the  doctor,  and  Ned  echoed  his 
opinion. 

"There's  one  thing  that  you  maybe  certain  of,"  said 
the  doctor,  "  and  that  is  we  shall  have  very  little  to  do 
except  look  on." 

"Looking  on  at  a  hunt  with  falcons  will  be  a  great 
treat,"  said  Ned,  "as  it  is  entirely  new.  I  wonder  what 
kind  of  game  we  will  go  for." 


132  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

"  That  depends  a  good  deal  on  the  kind  that  presents 
itself,"  said  the  doctor  quietly.  "  To  the  average  hunter 
anything  is  game  that  comes  along,  just  as  the  old  adage 
says  about  fishermen : 

''  *  All  is  fish  that  cometh  to  net.'  " 

*'I  believe  the  bustard  is  the  favorite  quarry,  but  the 
eagle,  ostrich,  or  gazelle  is  by  no  means  unwelcome. 
We'll  see  what  the  day  will  bring  forth." 

Renaud  was  then  dismissed,  and  after  the  youths  had 
written  up  their  journals  they  went  to  bed,  whither  the 
doctor  had  gone  before  them.  They  slept  better  that 
night  than  on  the  preceding  one,  as  there  was  less  tumult 
in  the  courtyard,  owing  to  the  largely  diminished  number 
of  visitors.  The  kadi  had  received  from  Renaud  infor- 
mation of  the  annoyance  of  the  preceding  night,  and  gave 
a  gentle  hint  to  his  followers  to  stay  away  from  the  court- 
yard from  sunset  to  sunrise. 

The  party  assembled  for  the  hunt  the  next  morning  in 
good  season,  after  a  simple  breakfast  consisting  chiefly  of 
kouskousou.  The  falcons  were  objects  of  great  interest 
to  our  young  friends,  who  examined  them  at  a  respectful 
distance,  out  of  regard  for  the  sharp  claws  of  the  birds. 
There  were  three  falcons  belonging  to  the  agha,  but 
whether  they  comprised  his  entire  stock  of  hunting  birds 
we  are  unable  to  say. 

Ned  plied  Renaud  with  questions  concerning  the  falcon, 
and  learned  that  these  birds  are  bolder  than  eagles  and 
also  stronger.  They  frequently  attack  and  kill  eagles, 
and  the  falcon  has  been  known  to  fly  in  twenty-four  hours 
a  distance  of  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  from  Paris 


EXPLORING    WAREGLA.  1 33 

to  Malta.  These  birds  do  not  fly  at  night,  as  they  are 
guided  by  their  vision,  and  consequently  their  speed  must 
have  been  nearly,  if  not  quite,  a  hundred  miles  an  hour. 

We  will  listen  to  Ned  while  he  tells  the  story  of  the 
hunting  excursion. 

''  No  agha  or  sheikh  of  high  degree  ever  goes  far  from 
home,  whether  for  business,  war,  or  pleasure,  without 
being  accompanied  by  his  falcons  and  their  keepers.  The 
chief  falconer  is  an  officer  of  no  small  rank,  and  he  is 
usually  one  of  the  confidential  lieutenants  of  the  agha. 
In  this  case  he  receives  great  deference  from  all  the  other 
attendants  upon  Sidi  Zobeir,  and  rides  close  behind  him, 
with  one  falcon  on  his  wrist,  one  on  his  shoulder,  and 
another  on  the  top  of  his  head.  The  hood  of  each  falcon 
is  kept  over  his  eyes  at  all  times  during  the  march,  and  is 
only  removed  when  he  is  to  be  '  cast'  or  sent  after  game. 

*'  The  agha  announced  that  we  were  going  in  pursuit  of 
the  bustard,  and  after  getting  outside  the  city  we  turned  in 
a  southerly  direction.  The  southern  end  of  the  oasis 
dwindles  from  a  broad  forest  of  luxuriant  palm  trees  to  a 
very  sparse  and  thin  growth ;  beyond  this  there  are  little 
patches  and  dots  which  contain  a  few  date  palms,  the 
whole  terminating  in  a  marsh  and  isolated  places  with 
very  little  vegetable  growth  of  any  account.  Harry  said 
that  it  reminded  him  of  a  road  somewhere  in  the  Western 
States  which  began  in  a  grand  avenue  with  a  double  row 
of  shade  trees,  and  gradually  dwindled,  until  it  became  a 
squirrel  track  and  ran  up  a  tree.  This  end  of  the  oasis  is 
the  haunt  of  the  bustard,  and  it  was  there  we  went  to  hunt 
the  bird.  


134  ^^    WILD    AFRICA. 

*'  Every  eye  was  watching  keenly  as  we  approached 
the  place  where  our  game  was  supposed  to  be  concealed. 
By  and  by  somebody  caught  sight  of  a  bustard  and  gave 
the  signal.  The  falcon  on  the  wrist  of  the  chief  falconer 
was  transferred  to  the  hand  of  his  master,  the  agha.  The 
whole  procession  came  to  a  halt  immediately ;  then  the 
agha,  after  receiving  the  falcon,  beckoned  to  the  doctor 
and  ourselves  to  accompany  him.  We  went  perhaps 
thirty  or  forty  yards,  and  then  the  agha  removed  the  hood 
from  the  bird's  head,  and  threw  him  in  the  direction  of  the 
bustard,  though  before  doing  so  he  directed  the  attention 
of  the  falcon  to  the  game. 

**  A  great  deal  of  skill  is  required  in  this  performance, 
as  the  bustard  is  apt  to  take  to  its  wings  if  it  sees  the  fal- 
con at  all  before  the  latter  is  well  in  the  air  above  him. 
To  kill  a  bustard  on  the  wing  is  considered  very  disrepu- 
table, and  there  are  hunters  who  would  put  to  death  a 
hunting  bird  which  would  make  such  a  miserable  mistake. 
Stories  are  told  of  Arab  sheikhs  and  other  great  men 
w^ho  have  been  so  enraged  at  the  unsportsmanlike  conduct 
of  their  falcons  that  they  have  put  to  death  the  birds  and 
also  their  trainers. 

"Our  falcons  had  evidently  been  well  trained.  The 
first  one  that  the  agha  sent  out  rose  to  a  great  height 
directly  above  the  bustard ;  then  it  swooped  down  through 
the  air,  making  feints  towards  the  bustard  until  the  latter 
took  to  its  legs,  instead  of  its  wings.  The  falcon  then 
poised  itself  above  the  bustard,  while  a  second  one  was 
flung  off  by  the  agha.  The  bustard  ran  at  a  great  pace, 
the  two  pursuers  urging  him  on,  and  whenever  the  intended 


EXPLORING    WAREGLA.  I35 

victim  tried  to  take  to  its  wings  the  falcons  prevented  its 
doing  so  by  swooping  down  towards  him. 

"He  ran  so  fast  that  we,  with  our  horses  at  a  gallop, 
could  barely  keep  up  with  him.  The  falcons  hung  over 
him  at  the  height  of  only  a  few  yards,  and  at  ever}'  attempt 
he  made  to  use  his  wings  they  made  a  feint  at  him.  The 
most  difficult  part  of  training  a  falcon  is  in  teaching  him  to 
keep  on  making  these  feints  until  the  game  is  nearly 
exhausted.  When  the  bustard  shows  that  his  strength  is 
about  gone  the  fatal  swoop  is  made,  and  the  bird  imme- 
diately drops  dead  on  the  ground,  its  backbone  being 
pierced  by  the  claws  of  the  falcon. 

''  Renaud  explained  to  us  that  the  bustard  has  a  singu- 
lar way  of  defending  himself.  When  the  falcon  comes 
near  him  the  bustard  ejects  a  slimy  liquid  from  his  moulli 
at  his  pursuer ;  if  it  hits  the  falcon  it  impedes  his  flight 
and  discourages  him  a  great  deal.  A  shrewd  and  well- 
trained  falcon  plays  with  his  prey,  inducing  him  to  eject 
this  defensive  liquid,  but  carefully  avoiding  it,  until  the 
bustard's  supply  of  moisture  is  exhausted.  We  must  have 
pursued  the  bustard  four  or  five  miles  before  he  was 
secured,  and  our  horses  were  pretty  well  blown  when  the 
fatal  stroke  was  given. 

"  We  caught  three  bustards  and  as  many  sand-grouse 
during  our  hunt.  We  saw  some  gazelles  a  considerable 
distance  away,  but  did  not  attempt  to  attack  them,  as  our 
horses  were  tired  out  and  unfit  for  any  further  severe  work 
that  day.  I  learned  from  Renaud  that  the  Arab  shiekhs 
are  not  very  fond  of  hunting  the  gazelle,  for  the  reason  that 
the  sport  is  liable  to  be  the  death  of  the  falcon,  as  he  runs 


136  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

the  risk  of  being  impaled  on  the  horns  of  the  animal  when 
making  the  last  swoop.  It  is  not  infrequently  the  case 
when  gazelles  are  hunted  in  this  way  that  beast  and  bird 
fall  dead  at  the  same  stroke,  the  former  being  killed  by 
the  claws  of  the  falcon,  and  the  latter  impaled  on  the  ani- 
mal's horns. 

"  The  sport  of  falconry  with  the  Arabs  is  practically 
the  same  as  that  practised  in  England  when  falconry 
was  a  fashionable  amusement,  the  same  gloves  and  hoods 
being  used,  and  also  the  same  care  in  feeding,  and  the 
same  method  of  training.  The  prices  of  the  birds  are 
higher  than  I  supposed  they  would  be ;  Renaud  told  me 
that  a  good  falcon  is  worth  1,000  francs  ($200),  and  not 
infrequently  1,500  francs  have  been  refused  for  a  single 
well-trained  bird.  The  falcon  is  considered  to  be  the 
equivalant  of  a  thoroughbred  horse  and  the  Arabs  ex- 
change the  one  for  the  other.  Falcons  usually  have  a 
regular  stable  set  apart  for  them,  and  they  are  groomed 
and  looked  after  carefully,  as  are  the  favorite  horses  of 
their  owners. 

''  After  our  hunt  was  over,  we  halted  under  the  shade 
of  some  date  palms,  partly  to  rest  our  horses  and  partly  to 
satisfy  the  appetites  which  our  ride  had  given  us.  One  of 
the  attendants  brought  along  a  quantity  of  dates,  and  these 

*  

formed  our  repast.  They  were  the  sweetest  we  had  ever 
tasted,  and,  on  remarking  this,  the  agha  told  us  the  story 
of  their  origin,  which  was  duly  translated  by  Renaud. 
Here  it  is  :  — 

*'  'There  was  an  old  woman  once,  old  and  without  chil- 
dren, who  was  very  pious.     She  wanted  to  make  a  pil- 


EXPLORING    WAREGLA.  137 

grimage  to  Mecca,  but  was  too  poor  to  do  so ;  she  was  so 
poor  that  she  had  not  even  money  enough  to  buy  a  string 
of  beads,  and  so  she  gathered  some  date  stones,  bored 
holes  in  them,  and  formed  them  into  a  chaplet.  With  these 
beads  she  repeated  her  prayers  daily  and  hourly,  and  fre- 
quently visited  the  tomb  of  a  holy  man,  where  she  begged 
the  prophet  that  he  would  not  charge  her  poverty  as  a 
crime,  but  admit  her  to  the  same  place  in  paradise  to  which 
she  would  have  been  entitled  if  she  had  made  the  visit  to 
Mecca.  When  she  died  her  friends  buried  with  her  the 
chaplet  of  stones,  the  only  earthly  thing  that  she  possessed. 
The  spirit  of  the  prophet  visited  the  grave,  and  the  tears  he 
shed  over  it  germinated  the  stones,  and  they  sprang  into  a 
group  of  trees,  which  produced  the  sweetest  dates  ever 
known.' 

*'  'And  these  are  some  of  them,'  said  the  agha,  as  he 
ended  his  story. 

"The  Arabs  say  they  have  fifteen  kinds  of  dates,  some 
of  them  being  the  best  for  eating  fresh,  some  for  drying 
and  cooking,  and  others  best  for  preserving  in  sugar,  as 
some  dates  are  preserved.  The  cultivation  and  curing  of 
dates  is  an  art  requiring  considerable  skill.  The  dates  of 
Waregla  are  of  several  kinds,  but  I  don't  think  the  whole 
fifteen  varieties  can  be  found  there.  It  is  a  curious  fact 
that,  though  the  date-palm  requires  considerable  water  at 
its  feet,  the  crop  is  injured  and  sometimes  wholly  destroyed 
in  case  of  a  heavy  fall  of  rain  before  the  dates  are  ripe. 

"  They  brought  us  a  liquor  made  from  the  juices  of  the 
palm  tree ;  it  is  called  '  laguna,'  and  the  Arabs  are  very 
fond  of  it,  but  to  our  taste  it  seemed  very  sweet  and  in- 


138  IN   WILD   AFRICA. 

sipid.  It  is  obtained  by  making  an  incision  in  the  top  of 
the  tree  and  attaching  a  funnel  by  which  the  sap  flows 
into  a  jug.  About  ten  quarts  will  be  obtained  every 
morning  in  this  way,  and  the  operation  is  said  to  be  bene- 
ficial to  sickly  or  poorly  yielding  trees,  provided  it  is  not 
too  long  continued ;  in  the  latter  case  the  tree  is  killed." 

The  next  day  our  friends  went  outside  the  city  to  visit 
a  Tuareg  encampment  among  the  palm  groves.  The  first 
object  to  attract  tlieir  attention  was  a  group  of  beautiful 
white  camels,  such  as  have  already  been  mentioned,  but 
the  ones  that  they  saw  that  day  were  larger  than  any 
which  the  youths  had  yet  encountered.  Ned  remarked 
jestingly  that  he  would  like  to  own  one.  Renaud,  think- 
ing he  was  in  earnest,  answered  that  it  would  be  impossible 
for  him  to  do  so ;  first,  because  the  Tuaregs  would  not  sell 
one  of  the  '*  mahari "  at  any  price,  and,  secondly,  because 
the  animal  could  not  live  in  the  colder  regions  of  the 
coast. 

Ned  replied  that  if  such  was  the  case  he  would  not  try 
to  make  a  purchase,  but  he  could  not  help  admiring  these 
beautiful  creatures,  which  were  as  large  as  they  were 
handsome.  Renaud  told  him  that  the  largest  of  ordinary 
camels  were  not  as  tall  as  the  mahari  by  at  least  eighteen 
inches,  and  whenever  groups  of  the  two  kinds  were 
together  the  ordinary  camels  looked  like  dwarfs.  Renaud 
further  said  that  great  care  was  used  in  breeding  and 
training  the  mahari,  that  they  were  very  docile,  far  more 
so  than  the  ordinary  camel,  and  seem  to  take  pleasure  in 
obeying  the  commands  of  their  masters.  They  lie  down, 
rise,  turn,  and  quicken  or  slacken  their  pace  at  the  voice 


EXPLORING    WAREGLA. 


139 


of  their  rider,  and  this  is  the  case  with  no  other  kind  of 
camel. 

The  youths  were  interested  in  finding  that  most  of  the 
tents  of  the  Tuaregs  were  made  of  leather,  —  the  untanned 
hides  of  goats  or  antelopes,  stretched  while  green  and 
then  stitched  together.  Ned  and  Harry  went  inside  one 
of  the  tents,  and  found  it  considerably  cooler  than  a  can- 
vas one,  but  it  was  so  low  as  to  compel  them  to  stoop 
uncomfortably.  The  Tuaregs  that  they  saw  were  dressed 
quite  differently  from  the  Arabs,  each  man  having  a  long 
tuft  of  hair  on  the  top  of  his  head,  only  the  temples  and 
the  back  of  the  head  being  shaved. 

The  Tuareg  wears  cotton  trousers  with  a  long  flowing 
robe  of  black  cotton  or  wool,  which  is  held  at  the  waist  by 
a  broad  belt  of  leather.  Outside  of  this  he  wears  a  striped 
or  blue  cloak  without  sleeves,  and  on  his  head  he  wears  a 
very  high  red  cap  with  a  black  turban  around  it.  One  of 
these  ends  is  brought  down  over  the  face  and  fastened 
with  an  ivory  pin  so  that  only  the  eyes  are  visible.  When 
at  meals,  the  Tuareg  never  takes  off  this  veil,  but  holds  it 
away  from  his  mouth  with  one  hand.  In  wearing  veils 
the  Tuareg  custom  is  exactly  the  reverse  of  that  of  most 
other  Mohammedans.  In  nearly  all  Moslem  countries 
women  are  veiled,  but  men  are  not ;  with  the  Tuaregs  the 
men  wear  veils,  while  the  women  go  unveiled.  To  expose 
the  face  is  considered  a  degradation  ;  the  Tuaregs,  like 
most  Orientals,  regard  w^omen  as  inferior  beings,  and  it  is 
probably  to  mark  their  inferiority  that  the  veil  is  forbidden 
to  women. 

Harry  observed  that  the  most  dignified  and  apparently 


140 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


the  most  wealthy  of  the  Tuaregs  were  barefooted,  and  he 
learned  in  answer  to  his  inquiries  on  this  subject  that  only 
those  who  are  too  poor  to  ride  wear  any  covering  on 
their  feet,  so  that  it  is  a  mark  of  superiority  in  position 
and  property  to  go  barefooted.  Some  of  the  poorer 
Tuaregs,  Ned  observed,  were  wearing  coverings  on  their 
feet  which  seemed  to  be  permanent  attachments.  They 
were  simply  the  skins  of  sheep,  goats,  or  other  animals, 
put  on  when  wet,  and  then  stitched  together ;  they  shrink 
while  drying,  and  cannot  be  removed  until  worn  out  and 
ripped  apart.  Harry  suggested  that  possibly  these  men 
were  born  with  boots  on,  or,  at  any  rate,  he  couldn't  help 
thinking  so  when  he  looked  at  them,  to  which  Ned 
replied  that  they  probably  died  with  their  boots  on. 

The  chief  of  the  Tuaregs  received  our  friends  very  cor- 
dially, and  invited  them  to  make  a  journey  into  the  Tuareg 
country.  They  gave  the  assurance  that  the  travelers 
would  be  unmolested,  inasmuch  as  they  had  a  safe-conduct 
from  the  French  governor  at  Biskra,  and  proposed  that  he 
would  bring  them  a  special  safe-conduct  from  the  Tuareg 
sheikh  of  that  region.  The  youths  were  ready  enough  to 
accept  the  invitation,  but  the  doctor  said  their  route  was 
in  another  direction. 

The  Tuaregs  claim  a  wide  extent  of  country,  practically 
all  that  lies  between  Morocco  on  the  west  and  Lake 
Chad  on  the  east,  while  their  northern  boundary  may  be 
placed  on  the  parallel  of  latitude  through  Waregla  and  the 
southern  one  near  that  of  Timbuctoo,  or  along  the  bank  of 
the  Niger.  The  headquarters  of  their  principal  clan  seems 
to  be  an  isolated  group  of  mountains,  about  fifteen  long 


EXPLORING    WAREGLA.  I4I 

days'  journey  southwest  from  Waregla.  These  mountains 
are  said  to  be  well  wooded  and  watered,  but  no  foreigner 
has  ever  been  there  to  describe  the  region,  neither  has  any 
of  the  Arabs  other  than  the  Tuaregs.  All  caravans  care- 
fully avoid  the  haunts  of  these  robbers,  and  as  for  single 
travelers,  they  value  their  lives  and  property  at  too  high  a 
price  to  risk  them  where  the  Tuaregs  abound.  They  de- 
scribe their  region  as  a  productive  one,  and  the  mountains 
must  be  of  considerable  height,  as  their  upper  portions  are 
covered  with  pines  and  other  coniferous  trees.  This  fact 
does  not  rest  alone  on  the  word  of  the  Tuaregs,  but  is 
established  by  the  use  of  resinous  woods  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  their  saddles  and  other  equipments. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ON  THE    ROAD CURING  A  SHEIKH. 

HAVING  exhausted  the  curiosities  of  Waregla  and  re- 
cruited the  strength  of  their  camels  and  horses,  our 
friends  prepared  to  move  on.  They  laid  in  a  supply  of 
water  sufficient  to  take  them  to  the  next  wells  on  their 
route,  and  also  a  stock  of  barley  for  the  horses,  and  a 
goodly  quantity  of  dates  for  themselves  and  the  camels.  As 
already  stated,  the  camel  derives  its  subsistence  chiefly  from 
the  bushes  and  shrubs  that  grow  in  the  desert,  but  when 
these  are  too  scarce  in  quantity  the  faithful  beast  must  be 
fed.  He  will  eat  dates  and  is  fond  of  them,  and  will  even 
eat  the  stones  of  the  dates  without  any  of  the  *' meat." 
Whenever  our  friends  made  a  meal  from  the  dates  they 
saved  the  stones  for  the  camels.  Ned  said  it  reminded  him 
of  a  traveler  who  was  hard  up  for  provisions  at  one  time, 
but  managed  to  save  himself  and  his  dog  by  cutting  off 
the  dog's  tail  and  making  soup  of  it  for  himself,  and  then 
giving  the  bone  to  the  dog. 

Dr.  Whitney  intimated  one  morning  to  the  agha  that 
he  and  his  party  would  leave  on  the  following  day.  In 
the  afternoon  the  agha  came  to  make  a  visit,  accom- 
panied by  his  brother,  the  kadi,  several  other  officers,  his 
pipe-bearer,  coffee-bearer,  and  other  attendants.  The 
doctor  made  farewell  presents  to  each  of  the  party ;  the 

14a 


ON    THE    ROAD.  I43 

presents  consisting  of  handkerchiefs,  sashes,  scissors, 
pocket-knives,  and  a  pistol,  the  last  being  for  the  agha 
himself.  Renaud  at  the  same  time  distributed  money 
among  the  servants  of  the  agha,  and  when  the  whole  busi- 
ness was  ended  the  travelers  found  that  it  was  an  expen- 
sive luxury  to  be  the  guest  of  a  great  man. 

**  It's  all  very  nice,"  said  Ned  to  Harry  when  their  visitors 
had  departed,  "to  be  treated  as  hospitably  as  we  have 
been,  but  the  day  of  reckoning  is  a  serious  one." 

*' You  will  find  it  the  same  in  most  Moslem  countries," 
said  the  doctor.  "You  are  treated  with  a  great  deal  of 
distinction  when  properly  introduced ;  horses  and  camels, 
escorts  of  soldiers,  and  the  like,  are  placed  at  your  dis- 
posal, and  you  have  a  first-rate  time,  but  everybody  expects 
a  present  when  you  are  about  to  leave,  and  his  expecta- 
tions are  gauged  rather  by  the  importance  of  his  employer 
than  the  amount  of  service  he  has  rendered." 

Before  leaving  our  friends  the  agha  called  to  his  brother 
for  a  sheet  of  paper  which  was  handed  to  the  kadi,  and 
the  latter  wrote  upon  it  a  letter  which  the  agha  dictated. 
In  writing  he  placed  the  paper  in  the  palm  of  his  left 
hand,  holding  the  reed-pen  in  his  right,  and  moistening 
the  latter  with  ink  from  a  bottle  shaped  somewhat  like  the 
sheath  of  a  knife,  and  carried  in  his  girdle.  After  writing 
the  letter  he  handed  it  over  to  the  agha,  who  read  it  and 
then  called  for  his  seal. 

Another  functionary  then  stepped  forward  with  a  leather 
bag,  which  the  agha  unlocked  very  ceremoniously  with  a 
key  that  he  produced  from  the  folds  of  his  garments. 
Out  of  this  bag  he  took  a  seal,  which  very  much  resembled 


144  ^^    WILD    AFRICA. 

a  silver  dollar  fixed  in  a  wooden  handle.  The  seal  was 
handed  to  the  kadi,  who  moistened  his  fingers  with  ink 
which  he  rubbed  on  the  seal,  and  then  handed  back  to  the 
agha.  The  latter  pressed  it  on  the  paper,  and  this  formal- 
ity completed  the  document,  which  was  a  letter  of  com- 
mendation to  the  chief  authority  at  the  next  oasis.  The 
agha  also  supplied  our  friends  with  four  horsemen  who 
were  to  accompany  them  the  first  two  or  three  days  of 
their  journey,  or  until  they  were  out  of  immediate  danger. 
The  doctor  had  not  asked  for  this  guard,  but  was  unable  to 
decline  it,  as  he  realized  that  the  agha  was  responsible  for 
the  safety  of  the  party  as  long  as  they  were  in  any  part  of 
his  district. 

By  daylight  the  next  morning  the  horses  and  camels 
were  ready  in  the  courtyard,  and  the  loads  were  placed 
on  the  animals  as  quickly  as  possible.  It  always  takes 
longer  to  get  under  way  the  first  time  after  a  few  days'  halt 
than  when  the  caravan  is  on  the  route,  and  so  it  proved  in 
this  case.  It  was  necessary  to  make  several  alterations  in 
the  distribution  of  the  loads  for  the  camels,  and,  besides, 
some  of  the  beasts  were  inclined  to  be  refractory.  They 
had  enjoyed  the  good  things  of  Waregla,  and  were  un- 
willing to  leave  the  place.  They  knew  very  well  that 
packing  up  meant  a  journey  over  the  desert,  and  conse- 
quently they  made  a  protest  at  receiving  their  burdens. 
One  camel,  when  laden,  absolutely  refused  to  rise  in  spite 
of  repeated  cudgelings  on  the  tenderest  portions  of  the 
body.  Finally  the  chief  camel  driver  brought  him  to  his 
feet  by  taking  off  from  his  burden  a  small  package  weigh- 
ing not  over  ten  pounds  and  transferring  it  to  the  back  of 


ON    THE    ROAD.  '        I45 

another  camel ;  then  the  refractory  beast  rose  at  once  to 
his  feet,  and  behaved  himself  with  proper  docility. 

We  m.ay  remark  here  that  this  performance  on  the  part 
of  a  camel  is  by  no  means  infrequent ;  he  will  make  a 
great  fuss  and  absolutely  refuse  to  rise  when  loaded,  but 
if  ever  so  slight  a  portion  is  taken  off  his  burden,  or  even 
a  pretence  of  taking  it  off  is  made,  he  rises  at  once  to  his 
feet,  and  seems  perfectly  contented. 

The  caravan  filed  out  of  the  city  and  soon  reached  the 
edge  of  the  palm  groves  and  gardens  of  the  oasis.  The 
next  destination  of  the  party  was  Gadames,  a  city  about 
fourteen  days'  journey  to  the  southeast,  and  in  that  direc- 
tion the  head  of  the  caravan  was  turned.  Both  Ned  and 
Harry  kept  records  of  this  part  of  the  journey  and  there 
was  a  good-natured  competition  between  them  as  to  which 
should  have  the  more  complete  account.  We  will  listen 
to  Ned  as  he  tells  the  story  of  their  adventures. 

"  We  have  a  new  guide  who  is  accompanying  us  to 
Gadames,  and  then  watch  his  chance  to  return  with  a 
caravan.  Renaud  is  not  acquainted  with  the  route  from 
Temacin  to  Gadames,  and,  therefore,  an  additional  guide 
was  desirable.  He  is  a  Mozabite,  a  traveler  by  profession, 
and  has  been  in  all  parts  of  the  desert,  and  he  is  a  hand- 
some, dashing  fellow,  with  the  reputation  of  being  a  good 
shot.  Evidently  he  wants  to  show  us  some  of  his  skill,  as 
he  keeps  ahead  of  the  caravan,  examines  every  mound 
and  bush  in  search  of  a  foe,  and  appears  somewhat  dis- 
appointed at  finding  nothing.  His  name  is  Selim  ;  he  has 
another  name,  which  we  did  not  try  to  grasp,  the  one  word 
Selim  being  quite  enough  for  our  purpose.     He  carries  a 


146  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

rifle  with  a  long  barrel  and  a  flint-lock,  and  whenever  he 
discharges  the  weapon  there  is  a  very  perceptible  interval 
of  time  between  the  flash  in  the  pan  and  the  report  of  the 
gun.  Renaud  says  the  way  to  handle  such  a  gun  as  that 
is  to  fire  first  and  then  take  aim.  In  addition  to  the  rifle, 
he  carries  a  large  dagger  and  an  antiquated  pistol,  and 
he  explains  that  the  latter  has  been  an  heirloom  in  the 
family  for  over  a  hundred  years.  Harry  thought  the 
pistol  would  be  quite  as  dangerous  to  the  man  aiming  it  as 
to  the  one  it  was  aimed  at,  but  we  did  not  venture  to 
express  our  opinion  so  that  Selim  would  know  of  it. 

*'By  Selim's  direction,  we  camped  the  first  night  in  a 
valley  between  two  hills.  There  were  signs  of  moisture 
in  one  spot  in  the  valley,  and  Selim  said  that  w^ater  might 
be  obtained  there  by  digging.  As  we  had  an  abundant 
supply  of  water  for  ourselves  and  horses,  and  the  camels 
had  taken  a  hearty  drink  before  leaving  the  Oued  Ghir, 
we  did  not  go  to  the  trouble  of  making  a  well. 

"  A  guard  was  stationed  immediately  after  camp  was 
formed,  and  changed  at  regular  intervals  during  the 
night.  Selim  took  the  first  watch,  Renaud  the  second, 
and  Harry  and  I  the  third  and  fourth.  By  arranging  it 
in  this  way  we  were  not  obliged  to  make  use  of  any  of 
our  attendants,  nor  did  we  wish  to  do  so  after  our  expe- 
rience with  theni  as  sentinels. 

*'  In  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  we  spied  some  palm 
trees  from  the  crest  of  the  ridge,  and  learned  from  Selim 
that  we  were  approaching  the  oasis,  to  the  chief  of  which 
we  had  a  letter  of  introduction.  Before  reaching  it,  we 
passed  through  a  large  cemetery  filled  with  tombs  of  a 


ON    THE    ROAD.  I47 

construction  that  we  had  never  before  seen.  They  were 
low  and  flat,  about  eight  feet  by  four,  and  most  of  them 
were  decorated  with  pinnacles  about  two  feet  high  ;  one 
at  each  of  the  corners,  and  one  at  each  of  the  sides,  mid- 
way from  the  ends.  Each  of  these  pinnacles  was  sur- 
mounted with  an  ostrich  egg^  and  some  of  the  graves 
were  ornamented  with  bunches  of  black  ostrich  feathers. 
These  tombs  were  in  the  barren  ground  outside  of  the 
oasis,  as  tillable  soil  in  the  desert  is  altogether  too  precious 
to  be  used  either  for  burial  or  building  purposes. 

"The  oasis  straggled  over  a  large  extent  of  ground, 
and  the  indications  are  that  it  has  been  much  more  exten- 
sive and  flourishing  than  it  is  now.  The  roots  of  many 
of  the  palm  trees  are  covered  with  sand ;  the  water  that 
nourishes  them  is  so  conveyed  that  it  sinks  into  the  sand 
and  thus  gives  life  to  the  roots  of  the  trees.  The  oasis  is 
not,  like  most  others,  a  single  patch  of  fertile  earth,  but 
consists  of  a  great  number  of  small  patches,  some  of  them 
a  hundred  yards  and  more  from  their  nearest  neighbors. 
The  water  is  mostly  salt,  the  wells  that  supply  it  being 
quite  shallow,  not  more  than  ten  or  twenty  feet  in  depth. 

"  We  sent  our  guide  ahead  with  our  letter  of  recom- 
mendation to  the  sheikh,  and  when  w^e  reached  the  town 
we  were  met  at  the  gate  by  the  kadi,  who  wished  to  lodge 
us  inside  the  town,  but  we  preferred  to  camp  among  the 
palm  trees.  To  this  the  kadi  reluctantly  assented,  and 
showed  us  a  place  where  we  could  pitch  our  tents. 
We  formed  our  camp,  and  then  accompanied  the  kadi 
through  the  town,  which  Harry  afterwards  described  as 
a  pocket  edition  of  Tuggurt,  as  it  is  smaller  in  the  number 


148  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

of  houses  and  inhabitants,  and  is  much  more  dilapidated. 
The  inhabitants  were  darker  in  color,  the  negroes  were 
in  greater  proportion,  and  there  was  quite  as  much  curi- 
osity to  see  the  strangers ;  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  were 
numerous  outside  the  town,  and  we  had  no  difficulty  in 
buying  a  sheep  for  our  dinner.  We  had  it  roasted  in  the 
manner  already  described,  and  this  with  a  bowl  of  kous- 
kousou,  and  some  stewed  dates,  comprised  our  evening 
meal. 

"  The  sheikh  came  in  after  dinner,  and  his  first  request 
was  for  a  letter  showing  that  we  had  been  hospitably 
treated.  Renaud  wrote  the  letter  in  the  best  Arabic  of 
which  he  was  capable ;  it  was  much  better  than  any  of 
us  could  have  written,  but  from  an  Arab  point  of  view 
I'm  afraid  it  was  not  a  fine  piece  of  composition.  Renaud 
expressed  a  doubt  as  to  whether  the  commandant  at  Tug- 
gurt  would  be  able  to  read  it,  but  he  thought  he  might 
make  out  its  purport,  and  said  it  was  composed  of  the 
most  flattering  phrases  he  could  think  of. 

"  In  looking  after  our  welfare,  the  sheikh  did  not  forget 
our  camels  and  horses,  which  were  well  supplied  with 
fodder.  He  also  gave  us  a  letter  to  the  sheikh  of  the  next 
oasis,  and  thus  assured  us  of  a  friendly  reception.  We 
rewarded  his  kindness  by  suitable  presents,  and  made  a 
good  start  in  the  morning. 

"  We  kept  up  the  practice  of  fixing  our  position  every 
day  by  observation,"  continued  Ned  in  his  journal,  "al- 
though there  was  no  necessity  for  our  doing  so ;  from 
Temacin  we  have  traveled  to  the  southeast,  and  every  day 
our  observations  have  shown   a  little  less  latitude   and  a 


ON    THE    ROAD.  1 49 

little  more  longitude.  I  wonder  when,  if  ever,  we  will 
get  to  where  there  is  no  latitude  whatever. 

"  Renaud  had  the  misfortune  on  the  second  day  of  our 
journey  to  be  stung  by  a  scorpion.  We  were  all  greatly 
alarmed  when  we  heard  of  it,  as  we  had  the  impression 
that  the  scorpion's  bite  is  generally  fatal,  and  the  death  of 
this  very  faithful  and  useful  Frenchman  would  have  been 
a  severe  calamity  to  us  ;  in  fact,  if  Renaud  had  died  I 
half  believe  that  we  would  have  given  up  the  journey, 
unless  we  could  have  found  a  good  man  in  his  place. 

*' Renaud  took  the  occurrence  very  coolly,  and  the 
means  of  cure  he  adopted  reminded  me  of  the  old  saying 
that  '  the  hair  of  the  dog  is  good  for  the  bite.'  He  took 
the  scorpion  that  had  bitten  him  and  crushed  it,  and  then 
he  spread  it  as  a  poultice  over  the  bite.  He  said  it  was 
the  best  cure  known  for  the  bite  of  the  scorpion,  and 
certainly  it  proved  a  perfect  one  in  his  case.  The  foot 
where  he  received  the  bite  began  to  swell  immediately, 
but  within  fifteen  minutes  of  the  time  he  applied  the 
scorpion  poultice  the  swelling  began  to  subside,  and 
before  the  day  was  over  all  trace  of  the  bite  had  dis- 
appeared. It  is  certainly  a  very  curious  mode  of  treat- 
ment, but,  after  Renaud's  experience,  I  shall  certainly  try 
it  in  case  I  am  bitten  by  one  of  these  creatures. 

'*  In  discussing  the  matter  with  Renaud  I  find  that  the 
bite  of  the  scorpion  is  not  generally  fatal ;  there  are 
several  kinds  of  scorpions,  and  they  vary  considerably  in 
their  poisonous  character.  At  a  casual  glance,  the  scorpion 
might  be  taken  for  a  crawfish,  as  his  body  is  of  the  same 
general  shape  as  the  body  of  that  crustacean.     When  he 


150  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

is  moving  about  quietly  and  undisturbed  his  tail  sticks 
out  straight  behind,  but  when  alarmed,  or  irritated,  or 
running  fast,  he  holds  his  tail  over  his  back,  moving  it  in 
all  directions,  as  if  well  aware  of  the  power  of  his  sting 
and  ready  for  any  adversary.  Scorpions  are  found  all 
over  the  Sahara ;  we  have  seen  a  good  many  of  them,  but 
this  is  the  first  time  that  any  of  our  party  has  been  bitten 
by  one.  The  largest  of  the  scorpions  are  about  six  inches 
long,  but  usually  they  are  not  more  than  three  or  four 
inches.  The  civilized  treatment  of  the  scorpion  bite  is  to 
press  the  wound  on  all  sides  so  as  to  force  out  as  much  of 
the  poison  as  possible,  and  then  administer  ammonia  inter- 
nally, and  also  apply  it  freely  on  and  around  the  wound. 

*'We  have  kept  a  careful  watch  every  night,  but  are 
all  glad  to  say  that  we  have  not  been  disturbed.  One 
night  we  went  into  camp  in  a  small  valley  where  there 
were  indications  of  previous  encampments.  During  the 
night  we  thought  we  heard  a  commotion  in  another  part 
of  the  valley,  but  as  the  wind  was  blowing  briskly  at  the 
time,  we  could  not  hear  distinctly,  and  were  unable  to 
make  out  the  cause  of  the  disturbance,  or  be  certain  that 
any  had  occurred.  In  the  morning  we  found  that  we  had 
neighbors,  and  not  altogether  welcome  ones.  One  of  our 
camel  drivers  said  that  the  encampment,  which  was  about 
half  a  mile  away,  was  unmistakably  Tuareg,  and  as  the 
party  was  more  numerous  than  ours,  we  were  in  some 
danger,  at  least,  of  an  attack. 

**The  doctor  thought  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  make 
the  first  approach,  in  order  to  place  ourselves  on  amicable 
terms  with  these  marauders  of  the  desert.     Accordingly, 


ON    THE    ROAD.  I5I 

we  sent  our  chief  mekhashni  (camel  driver)  a  hundred 
yards  or  so  ahead  of  the  camp,  to  a  httle  hill  at  the  edge 
of  the  valley,  w^here  he  w^as  in  full  view  of  the  strangers. 
He  took  possession  of  the  hill  and  then  waved  his  burnous 
in  token  of  friendship.  I  may  remark  here  that  there  are 
several  ways  of  waving  this  garment,  and  each  particular 
way  has  a  certain  significance.  It  may  indicate  friend- 
ship, enmity,  or  neutrality  ;  it  indicates  the  way  one  is 
going,  or  the  way  whence  he  has  come  ;  in  fact,  it  has 
almost  as  many  meanings  as  the  signal  flag  or  semaphore 
telegraph. 

*'  In  a  few  minutes  after  our  men  had  taken  the  position 
mentioned,  and  given  the  signal  of  friendship,  we  saw 
one  of  the  Tuaregs  approach  in  the  direction  of  the  hill ; 
then  our  camel  driver  went  forward  to  meet  him,  and  the 
meeting  took  place  about  half  vv^ay  between  the  two 
camps.  The  interview  lasted  about  five  minutes,  and  then 
each  man  turned  in  the  direction  of  his  own  camp. 

*'When  our  mekhashni  returned  he  confirmed  our 
belief  that  the  strange  party  was  Tuareg.  He  had  in- 
formed the  man  whom  he  met  that  we  had  a  French  safe- 
conduct  among  the  Tuaregs,  and  learned  in  turn  that  the 
sheikh  of  the  party  was  severely  ill,  and  in  need  of  the 
attentions  of  a  hakeem  (doctor).  He  asked  if  there  was 
a  hakeem  in  our  party,  and  on  learning  that  there  was  he 
seemed  to  be  much  rejoiced. 

"  Harry  and  I  thought  it  was  a  fortunate  circumstance 
for  us,  but  not  for  the  unfortunate  sheikh,  that  he  had 
taken  ill,  as  it  would  give  Dr.  Whitney  a  chance  to  show 
his  skill,  and  thereby  gain  the  friendship  of  the  Tuaregs, 


1^2  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

or,  at  any  rate,  of  this  party.     The  doctor,  however,  did 
not  regard  the  occurrence  as  favorably  as  we  did. 

"  '  It  is  all  right,'  said  he,  '  if  I  can  treat  the  fellow  and 
cure  him,  but  all  wrong  if  he  should  happen  to  die  on  my 
hands.' 

"  '  Like  all  savage  people,'  remarked  the  doctor,  *  these 
Tuaregs  look  upon  a  foreign  doctor  as  a  magician,  or 
something  very  near  it,  and  they  expect,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  that  he  can  perform  miracles.  I  have  been  asked 
more  than  once  to  restore  a  hand  or  foot  that  had  been 
cut  off,  and  many  are  the  times  when  people  who  had 
been  blind  for  years  have  been  brought  to  me  to  have 
their  sight  restored.  I  don't  exactly  like  the  job  of  under- 
taking to  cure  this  Tuareg  sheikh,  but  of  course  I  can't 
refuse,  and  we  will  hope  for  the  best.' 

"The  doctor  got  out  his  medicine  case,  and  ordered 
his  horse,  together  with  Renaud  and  his  mule.  Harry 
and  I  wanted  to  go,  but  Renaud  thought  it  best  that  we 
should  remain  at  the  camp  for  the  present.  The  doctor 
and  Renaud  mounted  and  started  for  the  Tuareg  camp, 
Renaud  carrying  the  medicine  case  and  acting  as  the 
doctor's  orderly,  or  chief  of  staff. 

"  Arrived  at  the  camp,  they  were  taken  into  the  presence 
of  the  sheikh,  who  was  lying  on  a  pile  of  skins  and  rugs 
in  one  of  the  camel's-hair  tents,  of  which  there  were 
several.  The  doctor  felt  the  pulse  of  the  sick  man,  but 
did  not  dare  to  ask  to  see  his  tongue  or  face,  as  a  request 
of  that  sort  would  not  be  likely  to  be  taken  in  good  part. 
The  Tuareg  man,  as  already  stated,  is  greatly  averse  to 
showing  his  face.     Renaud  acted  as  interpreter,  and  in  a 


ON    THE    ROAD.  I53 

very  short  time  the  doctor  made  a  satisfactory  diagnosis  of 
the  case  and  dealt  out  the  necessary  medicine. 

**  He  measured  it  with  great  exactness,  and  gave  careful 
instructions  to  the  skeikh's  son,  an  intelligent  youth  about 
eighteen  years  old.  The  young  man  asked  with  consider- 
able anxiety  how  soon  his  father  would  be  cured. 
Observe  the  form  of  the  inquiry ;  it  was  not  whether 
the  man  would  get  well,  but  how  soon  he  would  do  so ; 
the  question  implying  that,  as  he  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
foreign  hakeem,  his  recovery  was  a  matter  of  course. 

*'The  Tuaregs  treated  the  doctor  and  Renaud  with 
great  civility.  They  learned  through  the  latter  that  the 
doctor  had  come  without  waiting  for  breakfast,  and  though 
they  did  not  invite  them  to  remain  for  that  meal,  they  sent 
to  our  camp  a  good  breakfast  of  kouskous,  stewed  dates, 
and  fresh  camel's  milk,  which  arrived  before  the  doctor 
returned.  There  was  breakfast  enough  for  half  a  dozen 
men,  and  the  kouskous  was  of  excellent  quality ;  cer- 
tainly, we  had  seen  none  better  in  our  travels  thus  far. 

"  *  I  think  we've  scored  a  hit,'  said  the  doctor  gaily,  as 
he  entered  our  tent  immediately  after  he  had  dismounted. 
Harry  and  I  exclaimed,  almost  in  the  same  breath,  that 
we  were  glad  that  he  had  done  so,  and  then  Harry  asked 
what  was  the  matter  with  the  sheikh. 

**' Nothing  at  all  serious,'  was  the  reply.  'A  severe 
turn  of  what  you  boys  have  undoubtedly  experienced  after 
overfeeding  on  green  apples  or  unripe  melons.  He'll  be 
well  in  a  few  hours ;  I  told  him  I  would  stay  by  him  until 
he  was  out  of  danger  and  ready  to  travel  again.  He 
seemed  very  grateful  for  my  offer,  as  he  evidently  thought 


154 


IN   WILD    AFRICA. 


himself  a  great  deal  sicker  than  he  is.  Renaud  has  found 
out  that  the  Tuareg  caravan  is  traveling  in  the  same 
direction  that  we  are,  and  I  think  I  have  secured  it  as  an 
escort  for  the  rest  of  the  route.' 

*'And  this  is  the  way  it  turned  out;  the  sheikh  got 
well  by  noon,  or,  at  least,  well  enough  to  travel.  The 
doctor  visited  him  at  that  hour,  and  found  that  he  was 
able  to  walk  about  and  in  a  perfect  ecstasy  of  delight  at 
the  absence  of  pain  in  his  digestive  regions.  He  asked 
the  doctor  to  travel  in  his  company,  and  said  they  would 
escort  us  to  Gadames  and  regulate  their  pace  to  suit  ours. 
Of  course  the  offer  was  accepted,  and  in  a  little  while 
both  caravans  had  broken  camp  and  taken  to  the  road 
again. 

"Needless  to  say  that  for  the  rest  of  the  way  to 
Gadames  we  had  no  occasion  to  keep  a  guard  at  night. 
The  Tuareg  encampment  was  formed  around  ours,  or 
close  to  it,  and  that  was  all  the  police  force  that  we 
needed.  There  were  about  fifty  men  altogether  in  their 
party,  with  as  many  camels  ;  their  camels  were  lightly 
laden,  and  whenever  any  of  our  camels  showed  signs  of 
giving  out,  their  burdens  were  transferred  to  the  backs  of 
the  Tuareg  beasts.  We  were  treated  just  as  kindly  as 
men  could  be  in  the  desert,  and  could  ask  for  no  better 
companions." 

*'  The  far-off  reader  of  this  journal  may  think  it  strange 
that  we  entrusted  ourselves  entirely  in  the  hands  of  such 
notorious  robbers  as  the  Tuaregs.  An  inference  of  this 
sort  shows  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  Tuareg  character, 
and,  moreover,  of  Arab  character  in  general.     The  Arab 


ON    THE    ROAD.  I55 

will  defend  his  guest  with  his  life ;  he  might  rob  and 
even  kill  the  same  man  if  he  met  him  in  the  open  desert, 
but  when  they  are  in  the  relation  of  host  and  guest  the 
life  and  property  of  the  latter  are  as  safe  as  in  the  best 
regulated  cities  of  England  or  America.  If  our  camp 
had  been  attacked  at  any  time  while  we  were  traveling 
with  these  Tuaregs  they  would  have  defended  us  as  long 
as  they  could  have  raised  a  hand  to  strike  a  blow.  There 
is  an  old  ada^i^e  which  declares  that  there  is  honor  amonir 
thieves ;  there  is  honor  among  the  Tuaregs,  and  plenty 
of  it,  too,  in  their  treatment  of  each  other,  and  in  their 
dealings  with  outsiders  they  are  the  most  honorable 
thieves  that  can  be  found. 

"  Harry  and  I  were  regarded  as  magicians  quite  as 
much  as  the  doctor  was,  and  how  do  you  suppose  we 
obtained  our  reputation?     Well,  this  is  the  way  of  it:  — 

"The  first  morning  that  we  were  in  camp  with  the 
Tuaregs  we  took  an  observation  for  longitude,  and  great 
was  the  wonder  of  our  new  friends  as  they  gathered  about 
us  to  observe  the  manipulation  of  the  instruments.  They 
had  never  before  seen  anything  of  the  kind,  and  when 
Renaud  came  around  to  where  we  were  they  plied  him 
with  questions.  He  explained  the  purport  of  our  work, 
and  in  order  to  have  them  understand  it  clearly,  he  spread 
out  a  map  of  the  desert,  on  which  we  had  marked  our 
positions  each  day,  just  as  mariners  mark  their  positions 
on  a  chart.  From  that  time  on  we  were  regarded  as 
beings  of  no  ordinary  consequence ;  and  whenever  we 
took  an  observation  we  invariably  had  an  interested  crowd 
of  spectators. 


156  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

**  Their  astonishment  is  remarkable,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  Tuaregs,  hke  all  other  wandering  tribes  of  Arabs, 
have  a  certain  knowledge  of  astronomy,  though  it  is  of  a 
rude  sort.  They  can  judge  very  well  of  their  latitude  by 
observing  the  height  of  the  north  star  above  the  horizon, 
and  this  same  star  gives  them  the  points  of  the  compass 
very  accurately.  They  made  a  compass,  one  evening,  by 
taking  a  piece  of  string  and  laying  it  flat  upon  the  ground 
in  a  due  north  and  south  position,  by  pointing  one  end  of 
it  directly  at  the  north  star ;  then  they  laid  another  string 
across  the  first,  exactly  at  right  angles,  so  as  to  indicate 
east  and  west ;  they  next  subdivided  the  spaces  between 
the  cardinal  points  by  laying  other  strings  across,  and 
continued  to  subdivide  until  they  had  the  thirty-two  points 
of  compass,  exactly  like  our  own. 

*' When  they  had  completed  their  work  we  placed  one 
of  our  compasses  on  the  ground  beside  this  improvised 
one,  and  found  that  theirs  was  constructed  with  perfect 
accuracy.  The  position  of  the  sun  in  the  daytime  is  also 
taken  as  a  guide,  and  they  can  guess  with  remarkable 
accuracy  the  hour  of  the  day.  Altogether,  they  have  a 
pretty  fair  stock  of  astronomical  knowledge,  when  we  con- 
sider that  their  education  is  of  a  very  limited  character, 
their  instructions  being  almost  wholly  confined  to  reading 
and  reciting  passages  from  the  Koran. 

"In  order  to  restore  the  sheikh  to  good  health.  Dr. 
Whitney  desired  him  to  take  a  small  quantity  of  spirits, 
but  the  patient  objected  very  emphatically.  He  was  a 
devout  Moslem,  and  it  was  contrary  to  his  religion  to 
drink    anything    intoxicating.     Consequently,   the    doctor 


ON    THE    ROAD.  I57 

changed  his  prescription,  and  mixed  his  medicine  with  a 
Hquid  of  a  more  harmless  character. 

"  The  Tuaregs,  hke  most  other  tribes  of  the  desert,  are 
very  abstemious,  and  prohibitory  laws,  about  which  so 
much  is  being  said  in  these  times,  have  existed  in  the 
Sahara  for  more  than  a  thousand  years.  This  is  not  only 
the  case  with  the  wandering  tribes,  but  also  with  the 
Mozabites  and  other  settled  people.  In  the  Mozabite 
cities  the  Hebrews  are  the  only  people  who  make  any  use 
whatever  of  distilled  liquors ;  their  hakeems,  or  doctors, 
are  the  only  ones  who  are  allowed  to  have  liquor  in  their 
possession,  and  they  can  only  permit  it  to  pass  into  the 
hands  of  others  in  cases  of  illness.  They  are  absolutely 
forbidden  to  sell  to  other  residents,  and  if  a  traveler  desires 
to  purchase  a  bottle  of  spirits  he  must  first  obtain  a  per- 
mit to  do  so,  signed  by  the  governor.  These  restrictions, 
it  will  be  seen,  are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the  cele- 
brated '  Maine  Liquor  Law,'  and  antedate  them  by  more 
than  ten  centuries." 


CHAPTER  X. 

GAD AMES THE  CARAVAN  TRADE. 

TFIE  travelers  reached  Gadames  without  any  further 
incidents  of  consequence,  and  went  into  camp 
outside  the  city,  the  Tuaregs  encamping  near  them. 
Gadames  is  a  soHtary  town  or  city  in  an  oasis  of  the  same 
name,  about  three  hundred  and  ten  miles  southwest  of 
Tripoli,  in  latitude  30°  51'  north,  and  longitude  8°  24'  23'' 
east.  It  is  a  great  caravan  center,  and  the  rendezvous  of 
merchants  from  Tripoli,  Tuggurt,  Fezzan  Touat,  Tim- 
buctoo,  and  other  points. 

The  population  of  Gadames  is  variously  estimated  from 
thirty-five  hundred  to  five  thousand  ;  it  varies  from  time 
to  time,  according  to  the  prosperity  or  dulness  of  trade. 
It  consists  of  Arabs  and  negroes,  who  are  divided  into  two 
factions,  and  sometimes  three  or  four,  that  are  frequently 
at  war  with  one  another.  The  oasis  in  which  the  city 
stands  is  extensive,  and  the  palm  trees,  which  produce  an 
excellent  quality  of  dates,  are  very  numerous.  The 
streets  are  narrow,  and  many  of  them  are  covered  with 
arches.  The  walls  of  the  buildings  are  thick,  and  serve 
to  keep  out  the  heat  of  summer  and  the  cold  of  winter. 
The  city  has  triple  walls,  which  are  of  little  practical  use 
as  they  are  in  a  very  ruinous  condition. 

*'  After  forming  our  camp,"  said  Harry,  "  we  rode  into 

»5§ 


GAD  AMES.  159 

the  town  under  the  guidance  of  Sehm,  who  had  been 
there-^^*  before.  He  took  us  directly  to  the  great  square 
which  is  in  full  view  of  the  entrance  gate,  and  is  the  place 
where  all  transactions  of  the  merchants  are  carried  on. 
In  the  center  of  the  square  there  is  a  copious  and  steadily 
flowing  spring  which  supplies  the  principal  part  of  the 
water  used  in  Gadames.  Around  this  spring  there  are 
troughs  from  which  animals  can  drink,  and  other  troughs 
from  which  the  natives  fill  their  receptacles  with  water  to 
carry  to  their  homes.  There  is  always  quite  a  little 
crowd  around  the  spring,  and  they  afforded  us  interest- 
ing subjects  of  observation. 

"The  square  is  looked  upon  as  a  neutral  ground,  and 
the  people  of  different  factions  can  move  around  freely 
within  its  limits.  Selim  told  us  that  the  Arabs  or  negroes 
of  one  quarter  are  not  allowed  to  penetrate  another  quarter 
under  penalty  of  death,  and  that  this  custom  had  prevailed 
for  hundreds  of  years.  Most  of  the  negroes  are  slaves 
of  the  Arabs,  and  have  been  brought  from  Timbuctoo, 
Fezzan,  Agades,  and  other  cities  and  regions  of  the 
country  to  the  south  and  east  of  the  great  desert,  but  there 
is  a  considerable  number  of  free  negroes,  who  are  on 
terms  of  equality  with  their  Arab  neighbors,  and  live 
peacably  with  them. 

"In  the  market-place  we  saw  piles  of  goods  on  the 
ground,  or  in  the  shops  and  warehouses  which  surround 
the  great  square.  A  caravan  had  recently  arrived  from 
Tripoli,  and  another  from  Timbuctoo,  and  the  merchants 
connected  with  these  caravans  were  making  an  exchange 
of   goods.      The    caravan   from  Timbuctoo    had  brought 


l6o  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

slaves,  elephant  ivory,  gold  dust,  ostrich  feathers,  and 
skins  of  wild  beasts,  while  the  one  from  Tripoli  wa^  prin- 
cipally laden  with  ironmongery,  cutlery,  brass  and  copper 
wire,  cotton  and  silk  goods,  and  various  other  articles  of 
English,  French,  or  German  manufacture.  The  trans- 
actions were  conducted  very  leisurely,  nobody  seeming  to 
be  in  a  hurry ;  it  takes  a  great  deal  of  talk  to  conduct 
business  in  an  Arab  market-place. 

"Everybody  who  has  anything  to  sell  asks  at  least 
twice  what  he  expects  to  receive,  and  every  buyer  begins 
by  offering  not  more  than  half  of  what  he  expects  to  give. 
This  custom  leads  to  a  great  deal  of  haggling.  The 
seller  slowly  reduces  his  demands,  declaring  each  time 
that  by  the  beard  of  the  Prophet  he  has  named  the  last 
figure  which  he  will  accept,  and  the  buyer  as  slowly  in- 
creases his  offer,  swearing  in  the  same  solemn  way,  and 
by  the  same  solemn  words,  that  it  is  the  last  offer  he  will 
make.  Ned  and  I  stood  at  a  respectable  distance  from 
two  merchants  who  were  making  a  trade,  and  it  took 
them  a  little  more  than  an  hour  to  come  to  an  understand- 
ing. We  thought  it  a  very  slow  transaction,  but  Selim 
said  the  rapidity  of  it  nearly  took  away  his  breath. 

"There  is  an  English  consul  residing  at  Gadames,  and 
also  a  Turkish  and  a  French  one.  These  officers  are 
stationed  here  principally  to  look  after  the  trade  of  their 
respective  countries,  and  to  protect  any  of  their  merchants, 
or  the  agents  of  their  merchants,  who  may  be  engaged  in 
business  there.  The  Turkish  consul  has  a  certain  political 
authority,  as  Gadames  pays  a  small  annual  tribute  to 
Tripoli,   which    is    a  suzerainty  of   Turkey.     The  bonds 


GADAMES.  l6l 

that  unite  Tripoli  with  the  Turkish  Empire  are  not  very 
heavy,  and  consist  principally  in  the  payment  of  an  annual 
tribute  into  the  Sultan's  treasury. 

*'  We  called  upon  the  English  consul,"  continued  Harry, 
*'  and  were  fortunate  in  finding  him  at  home.  We  found 
him  living  quite  comfortably  in  a  house  of  native  construc- 
tion, partly  in  English,  and  partly  in  Arab  style.  His 
reception-room  was  more  Arabic  than  English,  as  it 
had  wide  divans  around  the  sides,  but  no  chairs  or  sofas. 
There  was  a  European  table  in  the  center  of  the  room, 
which  appeared  somewhat  incongruous  when  its  surround- 
ings were  considered.  His  dining-room  and  its  equip- 
ments were  decidedly  English,  there  being  an  extension 
table  in  the  center,  and  some  English-made  chairs,  all  of 
which  were  brought  on  camel's  backs  from  Tripoli,  four- 
teen days'  journey  to  the  northward.  The  bedrooms  of 
the  consul  and  his  family  were  likewise  of  English  style, 
but  any  guests  that  he  received  slept  on  divans,  and  not 
upon  beds.  He  invited  us  to  dine  with  him  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  and  meet  his  wife  and  daughter ;  he  said  our 
visit  would  be  a  great  pleasure  to  them,  as  they  had  very 
few  opportunities  for  seeing  travelers,  or  of  hearing  their 
native  language,  except  from  each  other. 

*'  Imagine  an  Englishman  in  his  own  native  island 
inviting  three  total  strangers  to  dinner  and  introducing 
them  to  his  family !  His  friends  would  consider  him  a  fit 
subject  for  a  lunatic  asylum.  But  here  in  the  desert 
foreigners  are  rare,  and  customs  are  not  as  rigid  as  on 
British  soil. 

**  The  consul  took  us  to  the  governor's  house,  and  we 


1 62  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

made  a  short  call  on  that  functionary.  He  served  pipes 
and  coffee  to  us,  asked  about  our  journey,  whence  we  had 
come,  and  whither  we  expected  to  go.  In  reply  to  the 
former  question  we  told  him  briefly  what  the  reader  already 
knows ;  as  to  the  latter,  we  replied  that  our  next  destina- 
tion was  Mourzouk,  the  capital  of  Fezzan.  He  shook  his 
head  on  receiving  this  information,  and  said  that  the  road 
to  Mourzouk  was  not  very  safe,  and  he  would  advise  us  to 
start  with  a  strong  caravan  which  was  to  set  out  in  a  few 
days.  He  also  advised  us  to  lay  aside  our  European 
dress  and  adopt  the  Arab  one,  which  would  render  us  less 
conspicuous  while  on  the  route.  The  consul,  who  acted 
as  interpreter,  seconded  the  advice  of  the  governor,  and 
said  that  we  would  do  well  to  follow  it. 

"  The  governor  offered  to  supply  us  with  a  house  during 
our  stay  in  the  town,  but  we  declined  his  offer  with  thanks, 
explaining  that  we  preferred  to  remain  with  our  people  and 
keep  them  out  of  possible  trouble.  He  commended  our 
decision,  and  I  have  no  doubt  was  heartily  glad  of  it,  as  he 
was  thereby  relieved  from  any  trouble  concerning  us.  He 
did  not  invite  us  to  stay  to  dinner,  which  was  quite  to  our 
satisfaction,  as  we  had  dined  so  many  times  after  the  Arab 
fashion  that  all  novelty  in  this  line  was  gone.  When  a 
suitable  pause  in  the  dialogue  came  along  we  embraced  it 
by  rising  and  taking  our  leave. 

"  The  governor  returned  our  visit  on  the  following 
morning,  and,  luckily  for  us,  the  consul  arrived  just  as  the 
visit  began.  The  consul  kindly  acted  as  interpreter  once 
more,  and  this  saved  us  the  necessity  of  calling  upon 
Renaud,  whose  translations  were  not  always  as  correct  as 


GAD  AMES.  163 

we  could  have  wished  diem  to  be.  We  were  careful  not 
to  be  outdone  in  hospitality,  and  had  pipes  and  coffee 
served  very  soon  after  the  arrival  of  our  guests,  together 
with  a  bottle  of  sweet  cordial,  which  evidently  suited  the 
taste  of  the  governor,  as  he  had  his  glass  filled  two  or 
three  times  ;  he  did  not  ask  if  the  liquor  contained  alcohol 
in  an}^  form,  and  probably  had  in  mind  the  old  adage  : 
'  Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise.'" 

After  the  governor  had  departed.  Doctor  Whitney,  ac- 
companied by  the  consul,  went  in  search  of  the  sheikh  of 
the  caravan  which  was  about  to  leave  for  Mourzouk. 
With  some  difficulty  they  found  him  ;  when  they  went  to 
his  camp,  they  were  told  that  he  was  in  the  great  square, 
or  market-place.  In  looking  for  him  in  that  locality, 
they  were  told  that  he  had  just  returned  to  his  camp ; 
they  rode  back  again,  about  two  miles  from  the  city,  and 
there  found  him.  The  consul  had  met  him  before  and 
had  been  of  service  to  him,  and  this  paved  the  way  for 
negotiations  at  once. 

The  sheikh  expressed  himself  as  not  only  willing,  but 
desirous  of  having  the  strangers  travel  with  him  ;  he  in- 
timated that  a  certain  amount  of  backsheesh  would  be 
necessary,  and  in  case  the  caravan  was  attacked  he 
should  expect  the  strangers  to  do  their  share  of  fighting, 
not  that  he  expected  any,  but  it  was  well  to  have  every- 
thing understood  beforehand.  The  strangers  would  carr}^ 
their  own  supply  of  water  and  provisions,  have  their 
own  servants,  and  live  in  any  way  that  pleased  them. 
Their  place  in  the  caravan  when  on  the  march  would 
be    designated,    and    whenever    camp    was    formed    the 


164  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

sheikh  would  select  the  spot  where  they  would  spread 
their  tents. 

Now  came  the  delicate  question  of  settling  the  amount 
of  backsheesh,  or  present,  in  return  for  the  protection  of 
the  caravan.  The  sheikh  named  twenty  pounds,  which 
the  doctor  thought  quite  reasonable,  but  the  consul  told 
him  it  was  altogether  too  much. 

"  When  he  asks  twenty  pounds,"  said  the  consul,  "  he 
will  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  ten.  I  will  tell  him  that  you 
never  heard  of  anybody  paying  more  than  ten,  and  he  will 
drop  to  that  figure  at  once." 

The  consul  informed  the  sheikh ;  and,  as  he  had  pre- 
dicted, down  came  the  amount  to  ten  pounds,  which  the 
doctor  consented  to  pay.  The  sheikh  said  that  he  would 
start  five  days  later,  and  with  this  understanding  the 
parties  separated. 

"We  got  along  very  well  with  that  fellow,"  said  the 
consul,  as  they  were  returning  to  the  doctor's  camp.  "  It 
is  lucky  that  I  had  dealings  with  him  before,  or  we  would 
have  been  there  three  times  as  long.  You've  already 
learned  what  a  slow  process  it  is  to  negotiate  with  these 
people ;  if  you  want  to  buy  a  horse  of  an  Arab,  you  must 
begin  by  telling  him  you  want  to  sell  a  cow  or  a  camel, 
and  gradually  work  around  to  the  real  business.  I've 
lived  here  quite  a  number  of  years,  and  know  their  ways, 
but  I  can't  get  over  feeling  that  the  English  and  American 
method  of  coming  to  business  at  once  is  the  best.  But  I 
wasn't  sent  out  here  to  change  the  customs  of  the  country, 
and  shall  not  try  to  do  so." 

The  doctor  agreed  with  the  consul,  that  he  preferred  the 


GAD  AMES.  165 

short  and  quick  way  of  transaction,  and  he  also  said  that 
it  was  not  their  business  to  attempt  to  reform  the  methods 
of  Africa  and  Asia,  especially  as  the  effort  would  be 
entirely  hopeless.  The  consul  remained  to  luncheon  with 
the  doctor  and  his  young  friends,  and  then  returned  to  his 
home  in  the  city,  where,  several  hours  later,  he  received 
the  trio  of  Americans  at  dinner.  The  dinner  was  enjoy- 
able in  every  way,  and  our  friends  came  away  from  it  with 
the  feeling  that  they  had  been  handsomely  treated,  and 
also  that  their  visit  had  been  a  pleasant  episode  in  the  life 
of  the  consul's  family. 

During  the  rest  of  their  stay  in  Gadames  our  friends 
were  occupied  with  preparations  for  their  journey  to  Mour- 
zouk  and  beyond.  Some  of  the  cam.els  that  showed  signs 
of  weakness  were  exchanged  for  others  in  better  condition, 
and  three  other  camels  were  added  to  the  caravan  for  pur- 
poses of  transportation.  Quantities  of  beads,  brass  and 
copper  wire,  sashes,  handkerchiefs,  cutlery,  cotton,  and 
other  goods  were  bought  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the 
expenses  of  travel  and  making  presents.  The  party 
expected  to  penetrate  into  regions  where  money  was  un- 
known, and  therefore  it  was  necessary  to  be  equipped  with 
the  currency  of  the  country.  In  journeying  through 
Africa,  the  traveler  realizes  the  great  advantage  of  a  uni- 
versal circulating  medium. 

Beads  and  wire  are  the  principal  money,  and  it  might 
all  be  well  enough  if  they  circulated  universally  ;  unhappily, 
however,  they  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  kinds  that 
are  acceptable  in  one  district  are  quite  uncurrent  in  another, 
and   will    not   be    taken    at   any  price ;  consequently  the 


1 66  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

traveler  must  have  all  the  different  varieties  of  these 
articles,  and  pack  them  in  bales  by  themselves,  so  that, 
whatever  country  or  district  he  reaches,  he  may  be  able  to 
lay  his  hand  on  the  goods  adapted  to  it. 

Ned  and  Harry  were  too  young  to  know  from  practical 
experience  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  United  States 
previous  to  i860,  but  Dr.  Whitney  vividly  recalled  the 
State  bank  currency  of  ante-bellum  days,  when  the  money 
of  one  State  was  uncurrent  or  at  a  discount  in  another. 
The  conditions  of  African  travel  reminded  him  of  old  times 
in  America. 

Most  of  the  purchases  of  goods  were  made  by  Renaud, 
assisted  by  an  Arab  who  had  been  hired  to  accompany  the 
expedition  from  Gadames,  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  interior.  The  packing  of  the  goods  was  performed  by 
these  two,  assisted  by  Yusef  and  Abdallah.  Ned  said  that 
he  and  Harry  "  bossed  the  job  "  occasionally,  but  he  had  a 
suspicion  that  they  hindered  the  work  quite  as  much  as 
they  helped  it. 

Their  Tuareg  friends  remained  in  camp  in  the  palm 
grove  for  two  or  three  days,  and  then  went  out  again  to 
the  desert.  The  people  of  Gadames  pay  a  heavy  tribute 
to  Tuareg,  Chaamba,  and  other  hostile  tribes  on  condition 
of  not  being  disturbed,  as  the  robber  Arabs  have  the  city 
at  their  mercy.  Formerly  they  made  occasional  raids 
upon  the  place  and  cut  off  trade  and  travel,  and  the  people 
of  the  city  found  that  they  could  not  live  in  peace  unless 
they  bought  off  their  enemies.  So  the  deal  was  made, 
and  the  residents  of  Gadames  are  very  careful  to  meet 
their   obligations   on   the   day   the   payment  is   due ;  they 


GAD  AMES.  167 

know  that  if  they  fail  to  keep  their  promises  their  enemies 
will  give  them  a  very  sharp  reminder  by  cutting  off  all 
trade,  and  also  by  making  an  attack  upon  the  place. 

The  Tuareg  chief  whom  the  doctor  had  cured  of  his 
ailment  offered  to  do  anything  in  his  power  for  the  party, 
and  volunteered  to  make  the  journey  to  Mourzouk,  if  our 
friends  desired  he  should  do  so,  but  Mourzouk  was  out  of 
the  range  of  the  Tuaregs,  and  for  them  to  go  there  w^ould 
require  a  heavy  backsheesh,  which,  of  course,  the  doctor 
would  have  to  pay.  Then  the  chief  would  expect  some- 
thing, and  altogether  the  escort  would  be  an  expensive 
one.  Our  friends  were  content  with  the  protection  of  the 
caravan,  and  declined  with  thanks  the  offer  of  their  late 
traveling  companion.  The  sheikh  gave  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation to  any  Tuaregs  whom  they  might  meet,  and 
remarked  that  if  it  did  no  good  it  would  certainly  do  no 
harm. 

When  the  time  came  for  the  departure  of  the  caravan 
the  sheikh  said  he  must  wait  another  day,  as  a  portion  of 
his  convoy  was  not  ready ;  the  one  day  extended  to  two, 
and  then,  again,  to  three.  It  might  have  run  on  for  a 
week  or  more,  but  the  sheikh  could  give  no  other  reason 
for  delay,  and  so,  about  the  middle  of  the  third  day,  the 
caravan  moved  out.  It  made  its  lirst  camp  only  a  few 
miles  from  Gadames,  and  when  all  were  assembled  the 
sight  was  an  imposing  one. 

There  were  fully  five  hundred  camels,  and  more  than 
that  number  of  men  ;  every  man  carried  some  kind  of  a 
weapon,  and,  taken  collectively,  the  variety  would  have 
been  sufficient  for  stocking  a  museum.     There  were  anti- 


1 68  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

quated  match-locks  and  flint-locks,  along  with  muzzle- 
loading  and  breech-loading  shotguns  and  rifles ;  but  it 
is'-  proper  to  say  that  the  breech-loading  firearms  were 
only  in  the  hands  of  our  friends.  Their  Winchester  rifles 
were  objects  of  the  greatest  curiosity,  and  the  Arabs  looked 
with  wonder  on  a  gun  that  could  fire  sixteen  times  without 
the  necessity  of  reloading. 

Ned  observed  that  the  camels  carried  bags  of  charcoal 
in  addition  to  their  ordinary  burdens.  He  called  Renaud's 
attention  to  the  contents  of  the  bags,  and  said  he  supposed 
they  were  carrying  it  as  fuel. 

"Yes,"  replied  Renaud,  *'fuel  for  camels,  not  for 
men." 

"  What  do  you  mean?"  queried  Ned;  *'  I  don't  under- 
stand you." 

**Why,"  answered  Renaud,  *' don't  you  know  that 
camels  are  sometimes  fed  on  charcoal?" 

**  No,  I  didn't  know  that,"  was  the  reply.  '*  We  haven't 
fed  ours  on  that  article." 

'*The  reason  we  didn't,"  responded  the  Frenchman, 
**  was  because  barley  and  dates  were  cheaper  than  char- 
coal at  the  points  where  we  took  our  departure  into  the 
desert.  In  the  western  part  of  the  Sahara,  and  along  the 
southern  portion,  caravans  frequently  take  charcoal  for 
feeding  their  camels.  It  is  light  in  proportion  to  its  bulk, 
and  while  the  animals  would  prefer  grass  and  shrubs,  they 
get  along  very  well  on  charcoal  when  grass  and  shrubs 
are  not  to  be  found.  The  camel  is  a  curious  kind  of 
beast,  anyway ;  he  is  admirably  adapted  to  his  work,  and 
if  it  were  not  for  him  we  could  not  traverse  these  deserts. 


GAD  AMES.  169 

I  don't  believe  there  is  another  animal  in  the  world  that 
would  live  on  the  food  on  which  a  camel  thrives  ;  even  the 
ox,  one  of  the  most  patient  and  hardy  of  beasts,  could  not 
live  a  week  if  compelled  to  adopt  the  diet  of  a  camel." 

The  conversation  was  interrupted  by  the  sheikh  of  the 
caravan,  who  happened  along  at  this  time. 

The  next  morning  the  caravan  started  out  in  very  credit- 
able season.  The  sheikh  led,  and  the  others  followed  in 
the  order  already  prescribed  by  the  leader.  As  mentioned 
heretofore,  the  caravan  consisted  of  groups  of  merchants, 
each  of  whom  owned  or  controlled  several  camels  with 
their  burdens  and  attendants.  Each  merchant  endeavors 
to  keep  his  camels  together,  both  by  day  and  by  night, 
and  one  of  the  principal  duties  of  the  driver  is  to  keep  the 
animals  from  straying  apart  while  on  the  march.  These 
merchants  find  it  to  their  advantage,  especially  on  the 
score  of  safety,  to  join  their  forces  and  place  themselves 
under  the  care  of  a  shiekh  of  the  country  having  a  certain 
force  of  armed  followers.  The  merchants  and  attendants 
are  armed,  and  each  is  expected  to  do  his  share  of  fighting 
in  case  of  necessity. 

Some  of  the  caravans  that  traverse  the  desert  are  very 
large,  comprising  two  thousand  or  three  thousand  camels, 
and  nearly  as  many  men.  Probably  the  greatest  of  all 
the  caravans  is  the  one  that  sets  out  from  Tendoof  in 
southwestern  Morocco  for  Timbuctoo  in  October,  and 
returning  in  the  spring,  and  consists  of  fifteen  thousand  or 
twenty  thousand  camels.  About  one  third  of  these  camels 
are  loaded  with  English  and  German  goods  ;  the  others 
carrying   no  burdens  till  they  reach  Tandeng  in  the  great 


I^O  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Western  Desert,  where  they  take  cargoes  of  salt,  which  is 
sold  at  an  enormous  profit  at  Timbuctoo. 

The  most  celebrated  caravans  are  those  formed  by 
pilgrims  going  to  Mecca,  particularly  those  who  assemble 
at  Cairo  and  Damascus.  The  latter  consists  of  thirty  or 
forty  thousand  pilgrims,  and  is  under  the  special  protection 
of  the  sultan  of  Turkey.  The  caravan  by  which  the 
Persian  pilgrims  travel  to  Mecca  starts  from  Bagdad,  and 
is  the  vehicle  of  a  very  important  trade.  There  used 
to  be  caravans  from  India  to  Mecca,  but  they  were 
given  up  thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  as  the  pilgrims  found 
it  easier  and  far  cheaper  to  go  by  steamer  to  Jeddah, 
on  the  Red  Sea,  from  which  Mecca  is  only  one  hundred 
miles  distant.  For  the  same  reasons,  there  are  now  no 
caravans  from  Constantinople  to  Mecca,  and  those  from 
Cairo  and  Damascus  have  greatly  diminished  in  import- 
ance. 

The  caravan  in  which  our  friends  traveled  halted  at  a 
little  past  noon  in  a  small  oasis  where  there  was  a  well  of 
very  brackish  water ;  too  much  so  for  the  taste  of  our 
friends,  but  not  for  the  Arabs.  They  drank  of  it  quite 
freely,  but  Ned  said  he  did  not  see  anybody  come  back 
for  a  second  drink.  There  was  some  delay  in  starting 
after  the  halt,  owing  to  quarrels  among  the  camel  drivers, 
quarrels  that  grew  so  boisterous  as  to  lead  to  blows  and 
require  the  interference  of  the  sheikh.  The  sheikh  of  a 
caravan  has  an  autocratic  power  like  that  of  the  captain 
of  a  ship  at  sea.  In  any  dispute  he  acts  as  judge  and 
jury,  and  dispenses  justice  with  a  free  hand.  In  this  case 
he   told  the  disputants  that  they  might  go  free,   as  it  was 


GAD  AMES.  171 

their  first  offence,  but  any  further  quarrel  would  be  pun- 
ished with  the  stick. 

In  the  evening  two  of  those  who  had  quarreled  at  noon 
got  into  a  row  again  and  came  to  blows.  Thereupon  the 
sheikh  ordered  that  each  of  them  should  receive  twenty 
blows  with  the  stick.  Some  of  his  immediate  followers 
seized  the  combatants,  threw  them  on  the  ground,  and 
sat  on  their  heads  and  feet,  while  others  administered  the 
prescribed  number  of  blows.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  they 
did  not  strike  lightly ;  an  Arab  greatly  enjoys  the  oppor- 
tunity to  thrash  a  fellow  Arab,  and  it  is  said  that  if  one 
of  them  is  ordered  to  punish  his  twin  brother  he  bears  as 
heavily  on  the  stick  as  he  would  if  the  victim  was  a  total 
stranger. 

The  road,  generally,  was  not  unlike  that  from  Temacin 
to  Gadames,  though  the  country  was  more  uneven  than 
that  which  our  friends  had  recently  traveled,  the  hills 
being  higher  and  more  rocky,  while  the  valleys  were 
deeper  and  often  v/ith  precipitous  sides.  There  were 
occasional  fertile  spots  in  the  valleys  where  the  horses  and 
camels  obtained  a  little  grass,  but  the  opportunities  for 
feeding  were  not  numerous,  and  the  animals,  like  the  men, 
were  obliged  to  rely  upon  the  provisions  they  carried. 
Ned  observed  that  the  supplies  of  charcoal  were  drawn 
upon  from  time  to  time,  but  the  prevalence  of  shrubs, 
camel-thorns,  and  other  growing  things  enabled  the 
camels  to  browse  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  way. 
Dates,  barley,  and  millet  made  into  kouskous  formed  the 
principal  food  of  the  merchants  and  their  attendants. 
They  were  not  an  inconsiderable  part  of  our  friends'  sup- 


172 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


plies,  who  now  and  then  added  a  can  of  preserved  meats 
or  vegetables  brought  from  England  or  America.  Both 
the  youths  said  it  brought  them  nearer  home  to  eat  Balti- 
more oysters,  canned  chicken  or  turkey,  preserved 
peaches,  pears,  and  other  fruits,  bearing  American  labels. 

The  doctor  remarked  that  travel  has  been  robbed  of 
some  of  its  terrors  by  the  invention  of  canned  goods  and 
the  facility  with  which  they  are  scattered  all  over  the 
globe. 

One  day  Renaud  dismounted  from  his  mule  and  began 
searching  in  the  earth  near  by ;  very  quickly  he  brought 
out  a  truffle,  which  he  held  between  his  fingers,  and  called 
the  doctor's  attention  to  his  discovery.  The  doctor  recog- 
nized the  article  at  once,  and  asked  if  there  were  more  of 
them. 

*'  Oh  !  plenty,"  was  the  reply.  ''  Plenty  ;  they  grow  in 
this  part  of  the  desert,  and  in  other  parts,  too.  If  you 
like,  I  will  get  you  enough  for  dinner." 

"Certainly,"  said  the  doctor.  "We  would  like  some 
very  much ;  they  will  piece  out  our  soup  admirably." 

Renaud  called  Yusef  to  hold  his  mule  for  him  while  he 
indulged  in  a  truffle  hunt.  In  a  half  an  hour  or  so  he 
had  a  good  hatful,  and,  as  the  doctor  predicted,  they 
formed  a  fine  adjunct  to  the  dinner. 

Ned  made  note  of  this  circumstance,  and  in  writing  up 
his  account  afterwards,  he  said  from  that  time  on  they  had 
truffles  quite  often.  The  Arabs  make  little  use  of  them, 
although  they  are  mentioned  by  the  greatest  of  Mohamme- 
dan travelers,  Ibn  Batutu,  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century.     When  preparing  dinner  Renaud  made  a  soup 


GAD  AMES. 


173 


of  the  truffles,  and  everybody  pronounced  it  the  most  deli- 
cious soup  he  had  yet  eaten  in  the  desert. 

On  the  day  following  the  one  when  the  truffles  were 
discovered,  our  friends  met  a  caravan  of  about  fifty  trav- 
elers on  their  way  from  Mourzouk  to  Gadames.  The 
caravan  was  principally  laden  with  ivory,  though  they 
had  several  bales  of  ostrich  feathers,  and  probably  a  quan- 
tity of  gold  dust,  though  the  people  of  the  party  did  not 
admit  having  anything  of  the  kind.  Travelers  in  the 
desert  are  as  cautious  about  admitting  the  possession  of 
gold  as  are  any  other  travelers,  and  for  the  same  reason ; 
they  do  not  wish  to  run  the  risk  of  inviting  robbery. 
Ivory  and  ostrich  feathers  are  less  tempting  in  their  way, 
but  by  no  means  spurned  by  Tuareg,  Chaamba,  or  other 
marauders. 

Almost  from  the  time  they  started  from  Gadames  a 
flock  of  swallows  had  followed  the  caravan,  most  of  the 
birds  disappearing  in  the  daytime,  but  invariably  coming 
up  to  the  camp  at  night.  When  the  camp  was  formed 
the  swallows  spread  around,  finding  places  inside  the  tents 
and  in  the  nooks  and  holes  in  the  baggage,  as  it  was  piled 
on  the  ground. 

One  night  there  was  a  heavy  wind  which  blew  down 
nearly  every  tent  in  the  camp ;  the  men  were  half  buried 
in  the  sand  which  was  borne  on  the  breeze,  and  as  for  the 
swallows,  they  flew  blindly  about,  except  such  as  had 
found  secure  places  in  the  baggage.  In  the  morning  the 
number  of  swallows  was  found  to  be  reduced  greatly,  and 
Ned  and  Harry  surmised  that  they  had  been  blown  away 
by  the  wind.     The  youths  speculated  during  the  day  as 


174 


IN   WILD    AFRICA. 


to  whether  their  little  friends  would  return  or  not.  Ned 
thought  that  they  had  been  carried  away  by  the  gale  and 
would  not  be  able  to  find  their  way  back,  but  Harry  believed 
otherwise,  and  felt  confident  that  they  would  be  able  to 
welcome  the  whole  flock  when  they  again  went  into  camp. 
Unhappily,  and  to  the  regret  of  both,  Ned  was  right ;  the 
missing  swallows  did  not  return. 

For  three  or  four  days  the  route  lay  over  a  region  called 
the  Hammada,  a  dreary  plateau,  where  the  ground  was 
hard  and  covered  with  stones  and  occasional  patches  of 
loose  sand.  There  were  numerous  hollows  in  the  Ham- 
mada, but  none  that  contained  wells  of  potable  water. 
The  country  was  elevated,  observation  by  means  of  a 
thermometer  and  boiling  water  showing  it  to  vary  from 
i,ooo  to  1,500  feet  above  sea  level.  In  this  region  the 
camel  drivers  killed  a  considerable  number  of  venomous 
lizards,  some  of  them  being  determined  that  not  one  of  the 
creatures  they  saw  should  escape  alive.  They  said  that 
the  bite  of  the  lizard  was  always  dangerous  and  often 
fatal. 

Snakes  of  a  venomous  sort  also  abounded,  together  with 
scorpions,  but  the  snakes  and  scorpions  were  less  numer- 
ous than  were  the  repulsive  and  dangerous  lizards.  Sev- 
eral jackals  were  seen,  and  Ned  remarked  that  he  could 
not  understand  how  any  jackal  who  respected  himself 
would  live  in  such  a  locality. 

After  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Hammada  was 
passed  the  caravan  descended  to  a  plain  nearly  seven  hun- 
dred feet  below  the  level  of  the  great  plateau.  On  reaching 
the  plain,  the  course  of  the  caravan  lay  in  the  direction  of 


GAD  AMES.  175 

a  spot  in  the  Sahara  called  El  Hasi,  which  means  "  The 
Well."  Harry  remarked  that  no  name  could  be  more 
appropriate,  as  there  is  a  well  in  a  certain  spot  and  nothing 
else  for  miles  around.  There  was  a  building  there  once, 
measuring  one  hundred  feet  one  way  by  fifty  feet  the 
other,  the  well  being  in  its  center ;  but  this  building  has 
fallen  into  ruins.  The  well  is  in  the  midst  of  a  sand  waste  ; 
it  is  about  thirty  feet  deep,  and  has  a  never-failing  supply 
of  good  water,  not  as  good,  Ned  remarked,  as  Croton  or 
Cochituate  water,  but  good  from  a  desert  point  of  view. 

*'  We  remained  a  day  at  El  Hasi,"  said  Ned,  "as  it 
takes  a  good  deal  of  time  to  water  five  hundred  camels 
and  as  many  men.  There  are  a  few  stone  troughs  from 
which  the  horses  and  camels  can  drink,  and  these  are 
filled  by  means  of  buckets  made  from  elephant  hide  brought 
from  the  regions  far  to  the  south  where  elephants  abound. 
No  matter  how  fast  we  drew  the  water,  it  always  bubbled 
up  and  remained  at  the  same  level.  We  found  that  the 
temperature  of  the  water  was  71^°  Fahrenheit,  and  Selim 
told  us  that  it  remained  the  same  throughout  the  year." 


CHAPTER  XL 

EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK. KINGDOM    OF    FEZZAN. 

FROM  El  Hasi  to  Mourzouk  there  are  three  roads, 
according  to  the  account  of  our  friends,  and  a  lively 
dispute  arose  between  the  camel  drivers  and  merchants  as 
to  which  road  the  caravan  should  take.  Each  road  had 
its  advocates,  and  each  its  detractors,  for  the  denunciations 
of  the  different  routes  were  quite  as  numerous  as  the 
praises  thereof.  Harry  remarked  that  the  discussion 
reminded  him  of  an  American  story  about  a  traveler  who 
arrived  at  a  point  where  there  were  two  roads  leading  to  a 
certain  town.  He  hailed  a  boy  whom  he  met  there,  and 
asked  him  which  of  the  two  roads  was  the  shorter. 

*'  Pretty  much  the  same,  I  reckon,"  replied  the  boy. 

"  Well,  then,"  said  the  traveler,  "  which  is  the  best?" 

*' Don't  know,"  was  the  reply;  "both  o'  them  pretty 
bad.  Take  which  of  'em  you  like,  and  before  you  get 
half  way  you'll  wish  you  had  taken  t'other." 

The  sheikh  of  the  caravan  settled  the  dispute  very 
quickly  as  they  left  El  Hasi,  for  he  led  the  way  along  the 
middle  road.  It  proved  to  be  dreary  and  dismal,  and 
decidedly  bad  in  many  places,  but  it  had  the  merit  of  being 
shorter  than  either  of  its  competitors. 

"  Rather  unexpectedly,"  said  Ned  in  his  journal,  "we 
came    at  one  point  upon  some    ancient  ruins.     We  had 

176 


EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK. 


177 


already  seen  some  pillars  and  the  ruins  of  extensive  build- 
iniis,  and  had  been  told  that  they  were  the  work  of  the 
Romans,  but  everythinfj  we  had  seen  thus  far  was  in  such 
a  very  bad  state  that  we  couldn't  make  much  out  of  it. 
But  in  the  spot  I  refer  to  we  found  a  monument  very  well 
preserved,  which  Dr.  Whitney  says  was  built  about  the 
second  century  of  our  era.  There  was  also  part  of  a 
wall  of  what  was  once  a  large  building,  with  a  well- 
preserved  arch  that  was  undoubtedly  of  Roman  construc- 
tion. Harry  made  a  sketch  of  the  arch,  while  I  made  one 
of  the  monument. 

''This  discovery,"  continued  Ned,  "  together  with  the 
Roman  remains  that  we  had  already  seen,  led  to  a  discus- 
sion concerning  the  occupancy  of  this  country  by  the 
Romans.  You  will  remember  our  mention  of  the  Roman 
bridge,  El  Kautara,  at  the  entrance  to  the  Sahara,  be- 
tween Constantine  and  Biskra,  and  our  remark  that  at  one 
time  the  region  bordering  the  Mediterranean,  and  now 
called  Algeria,  was  occupied  by  the  Romans. 

"As  near  as  we  can  make  out,  the  Roman  occupation 
extended  all  along  the  entire  southern  coast  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  to  the  boundaries 
of  Egypt.  The  Roman  territory  in  some  places  extended 
three  hundred  or  four  hundred  miles  south  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. Where  we  now  are  was  probably  the  limit  of 
Roman  occupation,  as  no  traces  of  Roman  monuments  or 
constructions  of  any  kind  are  found  south  of  this  locality. 
Why  the  Romans  should  have  pushed  so  far  as  this  we 
can't  understand,  unless  the  country  at  that  time  was 
much  more  productive    and    much  more  fertile  than  we 


178 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


find  it  to-day.  The  probabilities  are  that  it  has  greatly 
changed  in  two  thousand  years,  and  where  we  find  great 
wastes  of  barren  lands  there  were  formerly  productive 
fields  and  wide  forests  of  palm  trees. 

*'  On  the  second  day  of  our  journey  we  came  to  a  queer 
sort  of  a  place,  called  Ederi.  It  stands  in  a  plain,  or, 
rather,  a  wide  valley  between  two  hills,  the  valley  contain- 
ing a  palm  oasis  of  no  great  extent  and  some  gardens. 
The  town  is  built  on  the  sides  of  a  conical  hill,  which 
rises  on  a  steady  slope  of  about  forty-five  degrees  from 
the  base  to  the  summit ;  consequently  the  houses  stand 
one  above  the  other  like  the  steps  of  a  terrace,  reminding 
us  of  Algiers  when  viewed  from  the  bay.  It  was  formerly 
a  place  of  some  importance,  and  our  sheikh  told  us  that 
the  inhabitants  were  obliged  to  pay  a  heavy  tribute  to  the 
marauding  Arabs. 

"  Some  thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  they  neglected  to  pay, 
or  haggled  about  the  payments,  I  don't  know  which,  and 
the  result  was  that  one  night  the  Arabs  raided  the  place, 
drove  out  most  of  the  inhabitants,  and  carried  away  the 
able-bodied  young  men,  and  sold  them  as  slaves.  From 
that  time  only  about  twenty  of  the  houses  in  the  town  have 
been  occupied,  and  there  have  been  times  since  the  raid 
when  there  was  not  an  inhabitant  in  the  place. 

"We  climbed  to  the  highest  point  of  the  steep  hill, 
which  gave  us  an  extended  view,  although  a  disappointing 
one,  as  the  scene  in  every  direction  was  one  of  desolation, 
or  very  nearly  so.  -  It  is  a  great  pity  that  some  method 
cannot  be  devised  for  suppressing  these  marauding  Arabs. 
There  are  many  places  in  northern  Africa  which  could 


EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK. 


179 


be  greatly  enlarged  and  would  support  a  considerable 
population,  if  the  people  could  live  in  peace,  secure  from 
the  raids  that  are  constantly  threatening  them.  The 
valley  around  the  Ederi  could  be  made  very  productive, 
as  water  is  readily  obtained  in  all  directions  by  digging 
only  a  few  feet  beneath  the  surface. 

"We  had  progressed  so  far  on  our  journey  without  en- 
countering any  hostilities  that  we  began  to  expect  very 
confidently  that  we  would  reach  Mourzouk  without 
trouble.  We  were  forgetting  the  possibilities  of  a  raid 
upon  us  when  one  morning,  just  at  daybreak,  the  robbers 
appeared.  Our  camel  drivers  were  just  beginning  to 
place  their  loads,  when  suddenly,  from  a  ridge  close  to 
our  encampment,  a  band  of  some  thirty  or  forty  armed 
Arabs,  all  mounted  on  horses,  made  their  appearance. 
They  rushed  straight  for  the  tents  which  were  not  yet 
struck,  their  plan  evidently  being  to  throw  us  into  con- 
fusion, scatter  the  camels  by  frightening  them,  and  drive 
them  from  the  loads  they  were  waiting  to  receive. 

**  Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  scheme  might  have 
worked  very  well,  but  on  this  occasion  it  was  not  suc- 
cessful. It  happened  that  the  sheikh's  escort  had  as- 
sembled, and  were  nearly  ready  to  start.  They  were 
armed  with  flint-lock  guns,  and  their  weapons  were  quite 
equal,  if  not  superior,  to  those  of  their  assailants.  With 
great  presence  of  mind,  the  sheilfh  ordered  the  escort  to 
fire  upon  the  advancing  robbers ;  the  order  was  obeyed, 
and  several  saddles  were  emptied  of  their  occupants. 
This  disconcerted  the  robbers,  who  checked  their  advance 
at   once    and    turned    their    attention    to    their    dead    and 


l8o  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

wounded.     As  soon  as  possible  a  second  volley  was  given, 
and  then  the  marauders  fled  from  the  valley. 

''  We  three  were  at  quite  a  distance  from  the  sheikh's 
headquarters  and  knew  nothing  of  the  attack  until  the 
firing  began  ;  by  the  time  we  reached  the  scene  the  con- 
test was  all  over.  The  sheikh  expressed  his  regret  that  we 
had  not  been  there  at  the  time  with  our  Winchester  rifles. 
We  were  rather  non-committal  on  this  subject,  the  fact 
being  that  we  did  not  wish  to  indulge  in  any  fighting 
unless  compelled  to  do  so.  We  told  the  sheikh  that  he 
had  managed  admirably  without  us,  and  we  hoped  that 
there  would  be  no  more  trouble  on  our  way  to  Mourzouk. 
He  replied  that  he  thought  the  robbers  had  received  a 
lesson  which  they  would  remember  for  awhile,  especially 
as  he  had  ascertained  that  the  sheikh  of  the  band  was  one 
of  those  killed  in  the  morning's  encounter.  Not  a  man  on 
our  side  had  so  much  as  received  a  scratch. 

"For  the  rest  of  our  journey  to  Mourzouk  we  kept  a 
careful  watch  every  night,  surrounding  our  camp  with  a 
line  of  pickets  fully  two  hundred  yards  away,  and 
stationed  at  points  which  gave  a  wide  survey  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  I  am  confident  that  no  appreciable 
body  of  men  could  have  approached  within  a  mile  or  so 
without  discovery ;  except  by  dismounting  and  using  the 
greatest  caution. 

"As  we  approached  Mourzouk,  the  oases  and  planta- 
tions became  more  numerous  and  the  population  more 
dense.  The  country  was  very  far  from  appearing  to  be 
a  fertile  one,  but,  judging  by  the  Arabic  standards,  it  was 
decidedly  so  ;    there  is  a  great  valley  which  is  dotted  with 


EL    IIASI    TO    MOURZOUK.  l8l 

green  fields,  some  of  them  extending  close  up  to  the  sand- 
hills on  either  side,  and  we  could  see  in  some  places  the 
grass  apparently  struggling  for  existence  with  the  sand 
w^hich  had  drifted  over  it.  The  water  rises  quite  near  the 
surface  of  the  valley,  and  attached  to  every  field  is  a  well 
whence  the  water  for  irrigation  purposes  is  taken. 

''  The  work  of  drawing  water  for  the  fields  is  performed 
by  donkeys  under  the  direction  of  slaves.  The  slaves 
that  we  saw  were  mostly  young  and  healthy  looking,  but 
their  clothing  was  very  limited  in  quantity ;  nearly  all  of 
them  wore  nothinor  but  a  cloth  about  the  waist  and  a  straw 
hat.  A  goodly  number  of  them  had  only  one  of  these 
articles  instead  of  both,  and  where  they  were  obliged  to 
choose  between  them,  they  seemed  to  prefer  the  straw  hat 
to  the  loin-cloth.  The  country  is  so  warm  that  very 
little  clothing  is  needed  ;  the  nights  are  cold  at  times,  and 
when  this  is  the  case  the  people  cover  themselves  with 
straw  or  mats,  or  huddle  in  the  warmest  corner  they  can 
find. 

*'The  oasis  of  Mourzouk  is  an  extensive  one,  although 
its  vegetation  is  less  dense  than  that  of  Tuggurt  or  Te- 
macin.  We  encamped  about  a  mile  from  the  walls  of  the 
city,  not  far  from  a  camp  of  pilgrims  who  w^ere  returning 
from  Egypt  to  Morocco  and  Touat.  Some  of  these  pil- 
grims came  over  to  see  us  as  we  were  going  into  camp, 
but  they  did  not  remain  long,  as  they  did  not  find  any 
acquaintances,  and  our  people  were  too  busy  to  pay  them 
any  attention.  The  doctor,  Harry,  and  I  were  just  getting 
ready  to  ride  into  the  town  when  the  English  consular 
agent,  who  had  been  notified  of  our  arrival  through  our 


l82  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

letter  sent  forward  by  a  courier  in  the  morning,  came  out 
to  see  us.  After  a  pleasant  chat  with  him  we  placed  our- 
selves under  his  guidance,  and  proceeded  within  the  walls 
of  Mourzouk." 

Our  friends  found  Mourzouk  rather  picturesquely  situ- 
ated in  palm  groves  and  gardens,  and  exulted  in  the  belief 
that  they  would  find  an  abundance  of  garden  vegetables 
that  would  be  very  welcome  after  their  deprivations  in  the 
desert.  They  were  doomed  to  disappointment,  as  they 
learned,  on  inquiry,  that  such  things  were  very  scarce  and 
dear,  particularly  onions,  that  are  nearly  always  sought  by 
travelers  whose  bill  of  fare  has  been  for  some  time  a 
limited  one.  Ned  and  Harry  wondered  at  the  scanty  sup- 
plies of  fresh  food,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
caused  by  the  indolence  of  the  people,  as  the  ground 
would  produce  abundantly  if  it  were  properly  planted  and 
cultivated.  Milk  was  also  very  difficult  to  obtain,  the 
scanty  supply  of  this  article  coming  entirely  from  goats. 
Wheat,  barley,  beans,  and  a  few  other  things  are  grown 
in  the  fields,  and  some  fruits,  such  as  pomegranates,  figs, 
and  peaches,  can  be  obtained  in  their  season. 

Ned  made  the  following  note  concerning  Mourzouk  :  — 
''This  city  is  the  capital  of  Fezzan,  a  negro  kingdom 
or  sultanate  of  Northern  Africa,  and  is  situated  in  latitude 
25°  54'  north,  and  longitude  14°  12'  east.  It  is  built  of 
brick  cemented  together  and  plastered  over  with  clay ;  it 
is  laid  out  with  considerable  regularity,  and  has,  as  nearly 
as  we  could  ascertain,  a  population  of  between  three  and 
four  thousand.  According  to  tradition,  it  was  much  more 
important  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  years  ago  than  it  is 


EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK.  183 

now.  Formerly,  it  had  a  considerable  trade  and  the 
majority  of  its  inhabitants  were  engaged  in  mercantile 
business  in  one  way  or  another.  It  has  some  trade  now, 
but  not  nearly  so  much  as  in  former  times.  The  consul 
informs  us  that  the  annual  business  of  the  city  is  about 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  nowadays,  but  it  used  to  be 
five  or  ten  times  that  amount. 

*'  The  trade  currency  they  use  here  consists  principally  of 
the  Austrian  coins  known  as  Maria  Theresa  dollars,  which 
are  dated  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  I  was 
surprised  at  their  abundance,  and  also  at  the  fact  that 
coins  as  old  as  these  should  appear  so  bright  and  fresh  as 
most  of  them  do.  I  mentioned  this  circumstance  to  the 
consul,  whereupon  he  laughed,  and  said  :  — 

*'  '  You  are  not  aware,  I  presume,  that  these  coins  are 
made  in  Birmingham  as  an  article  of  trade.  They  are 
manufactured  there  and  sent  out  to  Africa  just  like  other 
goods,  and  are  not  treated  as  money  until  they  get  here.' 

"That  surprised  me  still  more,  and  I  did  not  endeavor 
to  conceal  my  astonishment.  I  remarked  that  I  would 
have  supposed  that  the  English  laws  against  counterfeiting 
would  prevent  the  making  of  these  coins. 

*'  '  If  the  coins  were  made  for  general  circulation,' 
replied  the  consul,  '  or  an  attempt  was  made  to  circulate 
them  in  Austria,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Austrian 
government  would  call  upon  England  to  put  a  stop  to  their 
manufacture.  They  are  never  sent  into  the  Austrian 
dominions,  but  are  used  here,  as  I  before  stated,  just  like 
any  other  trade  goods  ;  they  are  of  the  standard  weight 
and  fineness,  and  are  as  honest  dollars  as  any  of  the  original 


J 34  1^    WILD    AFRICA. 

Maria  Theresa  coins.  Their  ultimate  fate  is  to  be  melted 
up  and  made  into  African  ornaments,  and  this  keeps  up 
the  trade  in  them.' 

"  This  gave  me  a  new  light  on  matters  of  trade,  and  I 
may  have  more  to  say  on  the  same  subject  later  on. 

"  Harry  and  I  rode  entirely  around  Mourzouk  outside 
the  walls,  and  we  guessed  that  the  whole  distance  around 
was  not  more  than  two  miles.  The  walls  are  not  in  very 
good  repair,  and  a  battery  of  modern  artillery  would  make 
short  work  of  them.  There  are  gates  on  two  sides, —  the 
east  and  west.  They  have  a  small  gate  on  the  north  side, 
but  there  is  none  whatever  on  the  side  that  looks  towards 
the  south.  An  observing  traveler  would  not  need  to  be 
told  that  Mourzouk  once  contained  a  much  larger  popula- 
tion than  it  has  to-day,  as  the  houses  in  which  people  live 
are  very  scantily  inhabited ;  a  considerable  number  of 
dwellings  is  unoccupied,  and  not  a  few  are  absolutely 
crumbling  into  ruins.  There  is  a  wide  road  extending  out 
for  miles  from  the  eastern  gate  which  renders  that  part  of 
the  town  more  airy,  and  also  at  times  more  heated.  Mour- 
zouk is  a  hot  place  ;  the  thermometer  sometimes  stands  at 
one  hundred  and  ten  degrees  in  the  shade,  while  one  hun- 
dred and  one  hundred  and  five  degrees  are  by  no  means 
uncommon. 

"  Harry  observed  in  regard  to  the  heat  when  I  mentioned 
it  that  he  did  not  think  Mourzouk  would  be  a  good  place 
to  start  a  clothing  store.  Our  observation  among  the 
natives  showed  us  that  clothing  was  not  specially  popular. 
The  well-to-do  people  wrap  themselves  in  white  bournouses 
and  other  garments,  but  the  lower  class  of  inhabitants  are 


EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK.  185 

content  with  a  loin  cloth  and  a  hat.  Boys  and  girls  up  to 
ten  or  twelve  years  of  age  wear  very  little  else  than  *  a 
pleasing  smile,'  to  borrow  the  words  of  a  traveler  among 
the  Pacific  Islands.  Heavy  blankets  and  quilts  are  by  no 
means  necessary  at  night,  and  I  imagine  that  there  would 
be  very  little  market  for  them  if  they  were  brought  here 
for  sale. 

"  Speaking  about  market  reminds  me  that  we  visited  the 
bazaar  which  is  in  the  center  of  the  city  about  midway  be- 
tween the  east  and  west  gates,  and  is  the  most  frequented 
part  of  the  place.  It  has  a  roomy  appearance  and  is 
covered  with  a  roof,  the  latter  supported  by  the  stems  of 
palm  trees ;  the  roof  produces  that  subdued  light  which  is 
cherished  by  the  sellers  of  most  kinds  of  goods  if  not  by 
the  buyers.  Near  the  eastern  end  of  the  bazaar  there  is 
what  may  be  called  a  police  station  where  the  officials  who 
keep  order  in  the  town  and  guard  the  bazaar  are  stationed. 

*'  At  the  other  end  of  the  bazaar  and  a  little  away  from 
it  is  the  kasbah,  or  citadel,  where  the  sultan  resides,  and 
it  maintains  a  garrison  of  four  or  five  hundred  soldiers  to 
preserve  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State.  The  soldiers 
appear  to  be  well  fed,  but  they  are  a  ragged  lot  of  fellows 
armed  with  flint-lock  muskets  of  the  old  Brown  Bess 
pattern,  which  seem  to  be  scattered  all  over  the  world.  I 
asked  about  the  soldiers,  and  was  told  that  they  were 
obtained  by  conscription  among  the  poorer  classes  of 
people  in  the  different  oases  of  Fezzan.  The  kasbah  is 
said  to  be  able  to  lodge  two  thousand  men  ;  whether  it  can 
do  so  or  not,  we  are  unable  to  say  positiveh^  as  we  have 
not  been  allowed  to  enter  it.     The  sultan  is  at  home  at 


1 86  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

this  time,  and  when  he  is  within  the  walls  of  the  kasbah 
no  stranger  is  permitted  to  inspect  it.  We  learned  that  it 
is  a  large  quadrangular  building  with  a  large  interior 
courtyard  ;  the  principal  apartments  being  arranged  around 
this  courtyard.  The  reception  and  other  halls  are  of 
goodly  size,  but  the  most  of  the  apartments  are  smaller 
than  one  would  expect  to  find  in  such  an  extensive  building 
as  the  kasbah  of  Mourzouk. 

*' Very  few  of  the  merchants  of  Mourzouk  are  natives 
of  the  place  ;  they  come  here  with  their  goods,  remain 
long  enough  to  sell  them,  and  then  go  away.  They  sell 
their  merchandise  for  cash  and  consequently  money  is 
always  in  demand.  Sometimes  there  is  an  immense 
scarcity  of  cash,  and  this  is  what  makes  the  demand  for 
the  Austrian  dollars  that  we  mentioned.  The  most  popu- 
lar route  of  commerce  is  the  one  to  the  west,  where  the 
Tuaregs  are  always  ready  to  supply  whatever  camels  may 
be  needed  for  the  transportation  of  merchandise,  and  to 
guarantee  their  safety,  which  is  not  the  case  on  the  other 
routes." 

When  Ned  had  completed  his  story  of  Mourzouk  Harry 
suggested  that,  as  the  place  was  the  capital  of  Fezzan,  a 
little  account  of  the  kingdom  would  be  in  order. 

"You're  quite  right,"  said  Ned.  "  Suppose  you  write 
it." 

"I've  already  begun  it,"  said  Harry.  "As  soon  as  it 
is  finished  I'll  read  it  to  you." 

Ned  agreed  to  be  ready  to  listen  as  soon  as  Harry  was 
ready  to  read.  The  next  day  Harry  brought  out  his 
paper  and  read  as  follows  :  — 


EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK.  187 

"  Fezzan  is  about  four  hundred  and  sixty  miles  long  by 
three  hundred  wide.  It  is  bounded  by  the  Sahara  desert 
on  three  sides,  east,  south,  and  west,  and  on  the  north  by 
Tripoli.  There  are  three  ranges  of  barren  mountains  in 
the  northern  part,  but  none  of  them  exceed  two  thousand 
feet  in  height.  In  the  southern  part  there  are  wide  sand 
wastes  exactly  similar  to  the  neighboring  Sahara  Desert ; 
these  wastes,  or  deserts,  are  broken  here  and  there  by 
ranges  of  low  hills  with  valleys  between  them.  These 
valleys  include  all  the  land  in  the  country  worth  cultivat- 
ing ;  dates  are  the  principal  products  of  the  country  and 
the  chief  food  of  the  inhabitants,  and  they  also  raise  figs 
and  some  other  fruits.  There  are  no  rivers  or  brooks, 
and  not  many  natural  springs  of  pure,  fresh  water. 

"They  do  not  raise  many  domestic  animals  in  Fezzan; 
of  course  they  have  chickens,  the  negroes  of  Africa  being 
no  less  fond  of  barnyard  fowl  than  are  their  kindred  in 
America ;  goats  are  their  principal  quadrupeds,  and  they 
also  have  donkeys  and  sheep,  and,  in  some  districts,  horned 
cattle.  They  have  more  wild  animals  than  tame  ones, 
and  these  include  lions,  hyenas,  panthers,  jackals,  gazelles, 
foxes,  and  tiger  cats." 

"There!"  said  Harry,  as  he  paused.  "How  is  that 
for  an  account  of  this  country  ?  " 

"Not  a  very  full  one,"  said  Ned,  with  a  slight  laugh. 
"You  said  nothing  about  the  population,  trade,  or  govern- 
ment." 

"  I  was  coming  to  that,"  said  Harry.  "  I  have  it  on  a 
separate  sheet  of  paper." 

Then  the  youth  continued  as  follows  ;  — - 


l88  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

*'Fezzan  has  a  considerable  trade  with  Timbuctoo  and 
Bornu,  and  caravans  come  to  it  from  Cairo,  TripoH, 
Gadames,  Touat,  and  the  Soudan.  The  population  can 
only  be  guessed,  as  no  census  has  ever  been  taken ;  the 
best  judges  say  it  is  about  one  hundred  thousand ;  just 
about  enough  to  make  a  good-sized  ward  in  New  York 
or  Boston.  The  country  is  governed  by  a  sultan,  who 
pays  an  annual  tribute  to  Tripoli,  and  maintains  an  army 
in  time  of  peace  of  about  one  thousand  men.  In  time  of 
war  he  could  brino;  ten  or  twelve  thousand  men  into  the 
field,  provided  they  did  not  run  away,  as  they  frequently 
do  in  order  to  escape  the  conscription." 

"  That  will  do  very  well,"  said  Ned,  with  a  patronizing 
air.  "  We'll  learn  more  about  the  country  as  we  go  along. 
It  seems  to  me,  though,  that  the  ruler  of  such  an  insignifi- 
cant country  hardly  deserves  such  a  high-sounding  title  as 
that  of  '  sultan.'" 

"Well,  he's  a  sultan,  for  all  that,"  replied  Harry, 
*'  although  not  a  large  one.  And  that  reminds  me  of 
a  story  that  was  told  by  the  United  States  minister  to 
France,  a  good  many  years  ago,  about  an  American,  who 
persuaded  the  minister  to  get  him  a  ticket  to  one  of  the 
State  balls  at  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries.  On  the  evening 
of  the  ball  the  minister  noticed  that  his  American  friend 
was  constantly  hovering  about  a  group  of  the  old  marshals 
of  France.  Not  admiring  the  conduct  of  his  country- 
man, he  beckoned  the  latter  aside,  and  asked  why  he 
kept  so  continually  in, the  vicinity  of  those  great  men. 

*'  *  Well,  I'm  as  good  as  any  of  them  fellows,'  replied 
the   American;    'I'm   a  marshal,  myself,'  and  with    that 


EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK.  189 

he  took  from  his  pocket  a  commission  he  had  received  as 
one  of  the  marshals  to  collect  the  census  returns  in  an 
interior  district  of  Kentucky.  If  any  comparison  between 
the  sultan  of  Fezzan  and  any  other  great  sultan  should 
be  made,  the  ruler  of  Fezzan  might  reply  : — 

"  'I'm  as  good  as  any  of  them  fellows;  I'm  a  sultan, 
myself.'" 

Our  friends  remained  several  days  at  Mourzouk ;  they 
stayed  in  their  camp  for  a  day  or  two,  and  the  rest  of  the 
time  in  the  town,  where  they  were  lodged  w^ith  the  British 
consul,  who  had  a  large  house  with  ample  accommodations 
for  a  dozen  visitors.  Renaud  had  charge  of  the  camp, 
and  came  daily  to  receive  orders  from  Doctor  Whitney, 
and  to  make  whatever  purchases  he  deemed  wise,  or  his 
employer  suggested.  The  horses  were  in  charge  of  their 
grooms,  who  took  them  to  camp  every  night  and  brought 
them  to  town  at  a  fixed  hour  every  morning,  so  as  to  have 
them  ready  when  wanted  by  their  owners. 

It  w^as  necessary  for  our  friends  to  make  a  considerable 
number  of  purchases  previous  to  the  continuance  of  their 
journey  to  the  south,  and  these  purchases  were  managed 
by  the  doctor  and  Renaud,  who  were  materially  assisted 
by  the  consul.  The  latter  was  not  altogether  disinterested 
in  his  services,  as  he  was  himself  in  business,  and  made  no 
concealment  whatever  of  the  fact.  Doubtless  he  made  a 
good  profit  on  his  transactions,  but  Doctor  Whitney  and  his 
young  companions  had  not  the  least  objection  to  his  doing 
so,  and  felt  entirely  confident  that  they  had  received  the 
equivalent  of  his  profits  in  the  services  he  rendered  them, 
with  his   hospitality,  and   in  preventing   extortion  by  the 


ipo 


IN   WILD    AFRICA. 


native  merchants.  Their  purchases  in  Mourzouk,  added 
to  what  they  had  bought  in  Gadames,  gave  them  a  good 
equipment  for  their  journey. 

The  consul  advised  them  to  secure  some  additional 
camels,  as  the  prices  of  these  animals  in  Mourzouk  were 
low,  the  place  being  in  the  center  of  a  region  where  great 
numbers  of  camels  are  raised.  Camels  of  the  best  quality, 
he  said,  could  be  bought  for  forty  dollars,  and  good- 
working  ones  for  twenty-five  or  thirty  dollars  apiece.  As 
this  was  far  below  the  prices  the  travelers  had  paid  else- 
where, they  acted  upon  the  proposition  by  purchasing  five 
or  six  of  the  ordinary  kind,  and  two  of  the  best  sort ;  the 
latter  replacing  two  of  the  camels  originally  bought  for 
personal  use.  These  two  were  taken  by  the  doctor  and 
Ned ;  Harry's  original  camel  turned  out  an  excellent  beast 
and  needed  no  replacing. 

The  tribe  of  desert  Arabs  called  the  Tinylkum  is 
largely  engaged  in  rearing  camels,  and  its  villages  are 
scattered  about  the  eastern  part  of  the  sultanate  of  Fezzan. 
Their  camels  constitute  their  chief  wealth,  and  they  are 
largely  engaged  in  the  caravan  trade.  On  the  route  to  the 
Soudan  they  take  contracts  for  carrying  merchandise, 
stipulating  that  for  a  certain  price  per  hundredweight  it 
shall  be  delivered  at  a  designated  point,  and  they  also  hire 
out  their  camels  or  sell  them,  as  may  be  desired  by  those 
with  whom  they  deal.  They  are  averse,  however,  to 
hiring  out  their  camels  unless  they  go  along  themselves  to 
see  that  the  animals-  are  not  over-laden,  as  a  hired  camel 
in  Africa  is  very  apt  to  be  regarded  by  the  man  who  hires 
it  very  much  as  a  hired  horse  is  in  America.     The  indi- 


EL    HASI    TO    MOURZOUK.  I9I 

vidual  who  is  managing  a  camel  in  which  he  is  not  per- 
sonally interested  is  very  apt  to  pile  upon  the  creature's 
back  his  full  cargo  of  merchandise,  and  then  mount  himself 
on  the  top.  As  can  readily  be  understood,  the  Arab  owner 
will  earnestly  protest  against  such  practices. 

A  caravan  was  setting  out  for  the  south,  and  Dr. 
Whitney  decided  that  he  would  arrange  to  accompany  it. 
The  British  consul  brought  about  a  meeting  between  the 
doctor  and  the  sheikh  of  the  caravan,  and  the  matter  was 
speedily  adjusted  on  about  the  same  terms  as  that  for  the 
journey  from  Gadames  to  Mourzouk.  The  doctor  paid 
sixty  dollars  for  the  protection  afforded  by  the  Tinylkum 
sheikh,  and  it  was  understood  that  the  party  were  to  supply 
all  of  their  own  provisions  and  the  fodder  for  their  animals, 
and  they  were  to  do  their  share  of  fighting  when  it  became 
necessary. 

On  the  appointed  day  the  combined  caravan  took  up  its 
line  of  march,  and  the  faces  of  the  travelers  were  turned 
toward  the  south.  Both  the  youths  wondered  with  con- 
siderable anxiety  when  they  would  reach  the  regions  of 
the  Niger  and  be  in  the  real  tropical  forests  of  Africa. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  SLAVE  CARAVAN LAKE  CHAD. 

THE  road  on  which  our  friends  were  now  traveling  is 
not  usually  regarded  as  a  safe  one,  but  the  degrees 
of  safety  and  danger  vary  from  time  to  time.  It  is  gen- 
erally infested  by  marauding  bands  of  Arabs,  one  tribe 
having  possession  of  a  portion  of  the  road,  while  another 
tribe  controls  a  different  part.  Occasionally  these  maraud- 
ers get  to  quarreling  among  themselves,  and  whenever 
they  do  so  one  band  generally  succeeds  in  driving  away 
another,  and  in  so  doing  is  itself  pretty  badly  crippled. 
At  such  times  the  route  is  safest  for  honest  travelers. 

There  had  been  an  affair  of  this  sort  not  long;  before, 
and  the  Tinylkum  sheikh  of  the  caravan  which  our  friends 
accompanied  felt  quite  confident  that  there  would  be  no 
trouble,  as  his  party  was  well  armed,  and  could  give  a 
good  account  of  itself  in  case  of  attack.  But  on  the  third 
morning  out  from  Mourzouk  a  report  was  brought  by 
some  natives  of  the  country  that  a  hostile  band  was 
occupying  the  road  a  few  miles  ahead  and  waiting  to 
attack  any  caravan  that  came  along.  Thereupon  the 
sheikh  gave  orders  that  all  the  weapons  should  be  care- 
fully inspected  and  preparation  made  for  active  work  in 
case  they  encountered  the  enemy. 

The  caravan  started  from  its  halting  place  at  the  usual 

192 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  1 93 

time,  and  proceeded  quietly  enough  for  three  or  four  hours  ; 
suddenly  one  of  the  men  in  the  advance  came  running  to 
the  rear,  swinging  his  gun  about  his  head,  and  calling  out 
in  loud  tones  : 

*'  The  enemy  has  come  !     The  enemy  has  come  !  " 

This  brought  the  whole  caravan  to  a  halt ;  everybody 
who  was  mounted  on  a  camel  came  to  the  ground  imme- 
diately, and  every  man  seized  his  weapon,  whatever  it 
might  be.  There  was  great  commotion,  and  the  horses, 
camels,  and  donkeys  seemed  to  partake  of  the  excitement. 
So  great  w^as  the  confusion  that  it  was  some  time  before 
our  friends  could  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  alarm.  When 
the  facts  were  discovered  they  proved  to  be  as  follows :  — 

The  man  who  gave  the  alarm  was,  as  before  stated,  in 
the  front  of  the  procession ;  he  saw  three  Arabs  mounted 
on  camels  some  distance  ahead,  and  while  he  watched 
them  they  were  joined  by  several  other  men,  also  on  camels. 
After  halting  for  a  few  minutes,  as  if  to  hold  a  consulta- 
tion, they  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  caravan ;  there- 
upon he  ran  to  the  rear,  announcing  as  he  did  that  the 
enemy  had  come. 

The  supposed  enemy  came  and  proved  to  be  a  friendly 
party  of  natives.  It  took  at  least  an  hour  to  get  things  in 
order  so  that  the  caravan  could  move  on  again. 

Caravans  of  various  sizes  were  met  from  time  to  time, 
and  the  most  of  them  reported  that  everything  was  quiet 
along  the  road.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  the 
alarm  occurred  a  caravan  of  about  fifty  camels  and  a  hun- 
dred slaves  was  met  in  a  spot  where  the  road  led  between 
two  low  ridges  of  rocks.     Both  caravans  halted  for  a  short 


194 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


time,  and  the  sheikhs  exchanged  information ;  Ned  and 
Harry  embraced  the  opportunity  to  look  at  the  troop  of 
slaves,  which  had  been  captured  about  two  hundred  miles 
away  to  the  south.  They  had  expected  to  see  the  slaves 
chained  together,  or  carrying  heavy  yokes  of  wood,  which 
is  usually  the  case  with  slave  gangs  in  Central  Africa,  as 
described  by  Dr.  Livingstone.  Consequently  the  youths 
were  somewhat  surprised  when  they  found  the  slaves  un- 
fettered and  without  any  burdens.  However,  they  learned 
on  inquiry  that  the  slaves  were  kept  under  a  close  guard, 
and,  until  a  few  days  before,  had  been  firmly  bound 
together  to  prevent  their  escaping.  They  were  now  so  far 
from  their  own  country  that,  even  if  they  succeeded  in 
getting  away  from  the  caravan,  there  would  be  little  chance 
for  them  to  regain  their  homes,  as  they  could  not  travel 
without  provisions  and  water,  and  would  be  sure  to  en- 
counter hostility  at  every  step.  Ned  remarked  that  it  was 
a  case  of  frying-pan  and  fire,  as  they  would  get  out  of  the 
clutches  of  one  master  only  to  fall  into  those  of  another. 

Our  friends  afterward  learned  that  this  very  caravan 
which  we  just  mentioned  was  attacked  two  days  later  by 
a  band  of  marauders.  Every  one  of  the  masters  was 
murdered,  and  the  camels  and  slaves  were  carried  away. 

The  next  day,  when  the  caravan  went  into  camp,  a  party 
of  natives  from  a  neighboring  village  came  among  them. 
They  were  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  seemed  to 
be  acquainted  with  some  of  the  camel  drivers  of  the  cara- 
van. After  a  little  conversation,  four  of  them  proceeded 
to  execute  what  appeared  to  be  a  war  dance,  accompanied 
by  four  of  the  men  of  the  caravan.     The  others  gathered 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN. 


195 


in  a  circle  about  the  dancers,  and  squatted  on  the  ground, 
and  as  Dr.  Whitney  and  the  youths  advanced  to  witness 
the  dance,  way  was  made  for  them  until  they  formed  a 
part  of  the  circle.  The  sheikh  of  the  caravan  also  came 
and  looked  on,  and  consequently  everything  seemed 
friendly  enough. 

The  strangers  in  their  dance  circled  about  in  the  space 
enclosed  by  the  spectators  until  they  came  quite  close  to 
where  the  three  Americans  were  standing.  At  a  given 
signal  three  of  them  seized  the  wrists  of  our  friends,  while 
the  fourth  caught  hold  of  the  hands  of  the  sheikh,  and 
demanded  tribute.  This  action  seemed  very  much  like  an 
attack,  and  Dr.  Whitney's  impulse  was  to  draw  his  revol- 
ver and  defend  himself,  but  he  refrained  from  so  doing, 
watching  the  sheikh  to  see  what  steps  he  would  take. 

The  sheikh  responded  to  the  request  for  tribute  by 
giving  the  equivalent  of  ten  or  fifteen  cents,  and  our  three 
friends  followed  his  example.  Ned  inquired  the  reason  of 
this  singular  performance,  qnd  obtained  the  following 
answer :  — 

*'  A  long  time  ago  the  Kiloui,  a  tribe  of  Arabs  from  the 
Sahara,  took  possession  of  this  district.  After  they  had 
conquered  it,  they  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the 
negro  natives  that  they  should  not  be  disturbed,  and  in 
token  of  their  agreement  the  chief  of  the  Kiloui  should 
marry  a  black  woman,  thus  symbolizing  the  union  of  the 
two  tribes.  The  covenant  or  agreement  was  made  at  the 
very  place  where  the  dance  came  off,  or  within  a  few 
hundred  yards  of  it.  Ever  since  then  whenever  a  caravan 
passes  the  negroes  have  a  dance,  and  during  the  dance 


1^6  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

they  have  the  right  to  demand  tribute  from  their  masters. 
Every  man  not  a  negro  is  admitted  to  be  a  master  of  the 
blacks,  and,  therefore,  is  liable  to  be  called  upon  as  our 
party  w^as." 

Another  dance  w^as  executed  after  the  tribute  had  been 
given,  and  then,  as  night  WRS  coming  on,  the  natives  dis- 
appeared, returning,  no  doubt,  to  their  village.  But 
before  departing,  they  w^ent  around  among  the  people  of 
the  caravan,  collecting  something  from  each  one.  Most 
of  the  caravan  party  gave  their  tribute  in  dates,  and  when 
the  dancers  left,  each  one  of  them  had  a  sackful  of  this 
fruit,  some  of  their  burdens  being  so  heavy  that  the  bearers 
fairly  staggered  under  them. 

We  will  listen  to  Ned  as  he  tells  us  of  some  of  the 
incidents  of  their  experience. 

"  The  day  after  the  dance,"  said  Ned,  *'  one  of  our 
companions  called  attention  to  a  plant  which  the  Arabs  call 
siwak,  and  whose  botanical  name  is  Caf^aris  sodata. 
We  had  seen  the  bush  before,  but  did  not  know  of  its 
value.  It  looks  not  unlike  a  currant  bush,  and  its  fruit 
bears  a  close  resemblance  to  the  currant.  It  is  eaten  fresh, 
and  also  dried  and  kept  for  future  use.  Its  root  is  used 
for  cleansing  the  teeth,  and  wherever  this  bush  abounds 
and  there  is  a  scarcity  of  salt,  they  make  an  excellent 
substitute  for  that  commodity  by  burning  the  root  and 
using  the  ashes  instead  of  salt. 

"  The  camels  seem  to  be  fond  of  eating  the  fresh  leaves 
of  the  siwak  if  they  have  any  other  plant  to  mix  with  it, 
but  they  soon  get  tired  of  it  if  they  have  nothing  else  to 
eat.     I  have  repeatedly   seen   our  camels  grazing  where 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  1 97 

this  bush  abounded,  alternating  mouthfuls  from  it  and  from 
other  plants,  very  much  as  an  individual  at  table  alternates 
between  bread,  meat,  and  vegetables.  I  am  told  that  the 
bush  does  not  grow  farther  north  than  the  twentieth  parallel 
of  latitude.  It  is  very  abundant  in  the  valley  of  the  Niger 
and  in  the  desert  region  that  borders  upon  it. 

"We  had  a  disagreeable  experience  at  a  boundary  line 
between  two  districts  which  were  hostile  to  one  another. 
We  had  paid  tribute  in  one  district  to  allow  us  to  pass 
through  it  in  safety,  and  on  reaching  the  borders  of  the 
other,  we  tried  to  negotiate  for  a  safe-conduct  through  the 
territory,  but  the  people  whose  land  we  had  been  crossing 
said  that  we  must  not  pay  anything  to  their  enemies,  and 
if  we  did  so  they  would  fall  upon  our  caravan  and  destroy 
it  before  we  could  cross  the  line. 

*'  They  demanded  a  tribute  for  themselves  on  the.  ground 
that  the  two  peoples  were  at  war,  and  naturally  they  were 
the  owners  of  any  property  of  their  enemy's  which  was 
found  inside  their  own  lines.  Our  sheikh  dared  not  cross 
the  line  until  he  had  permission  to  do  so ;  otherwise  he 
would  be  inviting  an  attack.  Between  the  two  of  them 
things  looked  squally,  and  we  got  everything  in  readiness 
for  a  battle  against  whichever  party  should  attack  us. 

"  Our  sheikh  managed  to  send  a  messenger  across  the 
line  to  negotiate  for  a  safe-conduct.  When  he  came  back 
with  everything  arranged  we  made  a  sudden  start  at  mid- 
night and  got  over  the  boundary  before  our  recent  enter- 
tainers discovered  that  we  had  gone.  They  sent  word  to 
our  sheikh  that  whenever  he  passed  that  way  again  he 
would  be  compelled  to  pay  a  double  hongo^  or  tribute,  to 


198  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

make  up  for  his  failure  to  meet  their  demands  at  the  present 
time.  The  sheikh  took  the  suggestion  quite  philosophi- 
cally, and  said  that  when  he  came  around  again  the  war 
would  probably  be  over,  and,  no  matter  which  side  won, 
he  could  make  much  better  terms  than  he  could  with  the 
two  of  them  when  they  were  hostile  to  each  other. 

*'  Our  party,"  continued  Ned,  "  was  unwillingly  the 
cause  of  some  of  the  trouble  undergone  by  the  sheikh  in 
making  terms  for  passing  through  the  districts  controlled 
by  the  different  tribes.  We  had  in  our  baggage  several 
cases  of  sheet  iron  filled  with  dried  biscuit,  from  which  we 
occasionally  drew  whenever  we  wanted  a  slight  change  of 
diet.  The  rumor  went  around  the  camp,  all  unknown  to 
us,  that  the  cases  contained  money, —  real  gold  money, — 
and,  of  course,  the  value  they  enclosed  was  something 
enormous.  From  the  camp  the  rumor  reached  the  parties 
with  whom  we  were  dealing  ;  it  made  the  demands  upon 
the  caravan  larger  than  they  would  have  been  otherwise, 
and  thus  increased  the  danger  of  our  being  attacked. 
Renaud  was  the  first  of  our  party  to  learn  the  report ;  he 
positively  denied  that  there  was  any  truth  in  it,  but  the 
Arabs  refused  to  believe  him,  and  so  he  came  to  Dr. 
Whitney  and  told  him  what  had  happened. 

*'  *  I  think  I  can  soon  settle  that  difiiculty,'  said  the 
doctor.  *  Start  the  report  that  we  are  about  to  open  one 
of  our  iron  chests,  and  get  together  as  many  people  as  you 
can  to  witness  the  operation.' 

"Renaud  went  away,  and  before  long  we  observed 
quite  a  crowd  gathering  around  our  part  of  the  camp ; 
evidently    they    wanted    to    witness    the    opening    of    the 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  1 99 

treasure  chest.  The  boxes  were  placed  on  the  ground, 
and  then  the  doctor,  through  the  aid  of  Renaud  as  inter- 
preter, requested  the  chief  of  the  camel  drivers  to  select 
one  of  them. 

''  He  lifted  each  box  in  turn,  and  finally  selected  what 
he  considered  to  be  the  heaviest.  In  a  very  few  minutes 
the  cover  of  the  chest  was  removed,  and  the  receptacle 
turned  bottom  upwards.  Instead  of  the  gold  that  all 
expected  to  see,  there  dropped  from  the  box  only  some 
dried  and  rather  tasteless  biscuits,  which  were  passed  around 
as  presents  to  the  assemblage,  and  were  not  very  grate- 
fully received.  This  ended  the  rumor  of  our  untold 
wealth,  and  for  the  rest  of  the  time  we  had  little  trouble  in 
adjusting  the  price  of  the  tribute. 

"  In  almost  every  place  where  we  camped,"  continued 
Ned,  "we  were  more  or  less  disturbed  by  the  ants,  of 
which  there  were  several  kinds.  They  are  a  great  annoy- 
ance to  travelers  in  Central  Africa,  as  they  overrun  every- 
thing, and  are  very  destructive  of  leather  and  woolen 
goods.  Another,  and  nearly  as  great  an  annoyance,  is 
the  article  called  karengia  by  the  natives, —  the  seed  of  a 
plant  which  grows  everywhere  in  this  region,  and  especially 
in  the  valleys  which  are  the  customary  camping  places. 
The  karengia  is  a  little  seed  covered  with  a  burr,  and  this 
burr  attaches  itself  to  every  part  of  one's  clothing  when 
the  plant  is  touched.  Not  only  does  it  cling  to  the  clothing, 
but  it  attaches  itself  to  the  skin.  It  is  necessary  for  every- 
body to  carry  a  pair  of  pincers,  so  as  to  draw  from  the 
hands  the  tiny  spires  of  these  burrs,  as  they  cause  festering 
sores  if  they  are  not  removed. 


200  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

"But,  in  spite  of  its  inconvenience  to  mankind,  the 
plant  is  a  very  useful  one,  as  it  is  very  nourishing  food  for 
cattle.  They  grow  fat  upon  it  where  it  is  abundant,  pro- 
vided they  are  allowed  to  eat  as  much  of  it  as  they  choose. 
The  seeds  of  the  plant  are  used  as  food  for  man,  and  a 
great  many  of  the  natives  subsist  almost  entirely  upon  it. 
They  also  make  an  infusion  of  the  seeds  in  hot  water,  and 
after  the  infusion  has  been  allowed  to  cool  it  is  quite 
refreshing.  Harry  says  it  reminds  him  of  small  beer, 
with  the  beer  left  out. 

"As  the  reader  is  already  aware,  we  had  adopted  the 
native  dress.  The  sheikh  repeatedly  informed  us  that  the 
dress  was  all  right  as  far  as  it  went,  but  our  complexions 
were  so  light  that  they  attracted  more  attention  than  he 
considered  good  for  us.  It  is  true  we  were  a  good  deal 
bronzed  by  the  sun,  but  there  was  a  wide  difference  in 
complexion  between  ourselves  and  the  Arabs,  and  a  still 
wider  one  between  ourselves  and  the  "negroes.  The  sheikh 
said  w^e  must  be  darkened  in  some  way  and  suggested 
indigo ;  we  accepted  his  suggestion,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing appeared  in  public  with  our  faces  stained  to  a 
degree  which  delighted  the  sheikh  and  all  his  followers. 
Harry  said  we  needed  nothing  more  to  make  good  Moham- 
medans of  us  than  a  recital  of  the  Moslem  confession  of 
faith. 

"  On  and  on  to  the  south  we  went,  occasionally  meeting 
caravans  carrying  slaves  and  other  products  of  Central 
Africa  to  the  north.  In  general,  the  slaves  seemed  to  be 
well  treated,  probably  not  out  of  any  compassion  for  them, 
but  because  it  was  to  the  interest  of  their  owners  to  have 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  20I 

their  human  merchandise  reach  the  market  in  as  good 
condition  as  possible.  In  the  first  caravans  that  we  met 
the  slaves  were  not  fettered  or  tied  together ;  but  as  we 
went  further  south,  and  consequently  nearer  the  homes  of 
these  unfortunates,  we  found  them  fastened  together  with 
ropes  extending  from  the  neck  of  one  slave  to  that  of 
another,  sometimes  with  their  hands  tied  together,  and 
sometimes  with  heavy  yokes  upon  their  necks.  Usually 
they  seemed  quite  indifferent  to  their  fate,  and  on  some 
occasions  they  were  laughing  heartily  and  apparently 
having  '  a  first-rate  time.'  Once  while  we  were  wending 
our  way  through  a  hilly  country,  the  first  knowledge  of 
the  presence  of  a  caravan  coming  towards  us  was  obtained 
by  hearing  loud  peals  of  laughter  which  came  from  the 
slaves  accompanying  the  caravan ;  something  had  excited 
their  risibility  to  an  unusual  degree,  as  they  were  still 
laughing  heartily  when  the  caravan  passed  us. 

*'As  we  went  south  the  fertility^  of  the  soil  increased, 
and,  although  we  carried  a  supply  of  water  to  guard 
against  accidents,  we  found  no  real  necessity  for  it,  as  the 
drinking  places  increased  in  number  until  they  were  rarely 
more  than  ten  or  fifteen  miles  apart.  Renaud  said  we 
were  getting  into  the  valley  of  Lake  Chad.  We  had 
entered  the  basin  drained  by  that  lake,  but  so  slight  was 
the  declivity  leading  into  it  that  we  had  hardly  noticed  the 
change  of  level.  Oases  became  more  and  more  numerous, 
villages  were  larger  and  more  abundant  than  they  had 
been,  and  on  rising  to  the  crest  of  a  ridge  we  could  see 
away  to  the  southward  an  extensive  forest  of  trees.  We 
had  been  deceived  so  often  by  the  mirage  that  we  hesitated 


202  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

to  believe  the  evidence  of  our  own  eyes,  so  Harry  shouted 
to  Renaud  to  come  and  help  us  out  of  our  trouble. 

'«« What  is  that? '  queried  Harry,  as  he  pointed  to  the 
distant  forest. 

"  Renaud  gave  a  long  and  careful  look  in  the  direction  in 
which  Harry  pointed,   and  then  answered  that  he    didn't 

know. 

''  '  It  may  be  real  trees,  or  it  may  be  fly-away  trees,'  he 
continued.  '  Stop  !  yes  ;  no  !  yes,  it  is  real  trees,'  said  he 
in  a  tone  of  confidence.  '  I  see  now ;  they're  real  trees, 
and  there's  a  forest.  We  sha'n't  see  any  more  desert  for 
some  time.' 

"We  thanked  Renaud  for  his  information,  as  we  had 
grown  quite  weary  of  the  desert,  and  were  very  glad  to  get 
once  more  into  the  region  of  trees. 

*'  That  night  we  camped  in  a  fine  grove  of  palms  where 
there  was  a  copious  spring  of  pure  water  from  which  men 
and  animals  drank  very  freely.  All  around  us  the  grass 
was  green  and  luxuriant,  and  our  camels,  horses,  and 
donkeys  seemed  to  fairly  revel  in  it.  I  don't  know  of  any 
more  enjoyable  scenes  in  our  travels  than  to  look  at  the 
animals  of  our  caravan  whenever  we  happen  to  reach  a 
spot  where  grass  is  abundant.  The  camels  do  not  show 
so  much  difference  in  their  manners  as  do  the  horses  and 
donkeys.  Camels  seem  content  to  live  upon  the  scanty 
growths  of  the  desert,  and  are  satisfied  with  shrubs  and 
slender  growths  which- the  horse  looks  upon  with  disdain. 
They  appreciate  fairly  well  a  good  feed  of  grass,  but 
their  appreciation  is  not  manifested  by  the  eagerness  and 
selfishness  which  the  horse  displays.      Ordinarily,   when 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  203 

my  horse  is  taking  his  allowance  of  barley,  in  the  absence 
of  anything  else,  I  can  approach  him,  pat  him,  and  talk  to 
him  without  any  display  of  hostility  on  his  part,  but  when 
he  is  enjoying  a  good  feed  of  grass  he  will  not  allow  me 
to  approach  him,  for  fear,  apparently,  that  I  will  appro- 
priate some  of  the  herbage  to  my  own  use,  and  thus  deprive 
him  of  an  article  of  which  he  is  exceedingly  fond. 

''We  left  this  agreeable  camping  ground  at  an  early 
hour  in  the  morning,  and,  though  the  horses  had  eaten 
quite  as  much  as  was  good  for  them,  they  manifested  an 
unwillingness  to  be  saddled  up.  As  the  day  opened  we 
saw  a  haze  in  the  southward,  indicating  the  position  of  the 
lake.  As  the  sun  advanced  in  the  heavens  it  burned  away 
this  haze,  and  not  long  afterwards  a  mirage  made  its  ap- 
pearance, seemingly  lifting  the  lake  high  in  air.  This 
mirage  was  followed  by  another,  by  which  the  whole  south- 
ern horizon  seemed  to  be  filled  with  a  vast  forest,  that 
changed  in  a  little  while  to  a  broad  and  desert  plain ;  to- 
wards noon  all  appearance  of  the  mirage  was  swept  away, 
and  for  the  rest  of  the  day  the  sky  presented  no  further 
deceptions. 

"When  we  were  yet  two  days  journey  away  from  the 
borders  of  the  lake  we  separated  from  our  good  friends,  the 
Tinylkums,  and  bade  them  farewell.  We  were  now  in  a 
region  w^hich  is  not  scourged  by  the  Arabs,  except  on  rare 
occasions.  It  was  considered  safe  for  us  to  travel  without 
the  protection  of  a  large  caravan,  at  least,  as  far  as  the  end 
of  the  lake.  The  road  that  our  friends  followed  bore  away 
to  the  eastward,  leaving  the  lake  at  a  considerable  distance. 
One  of  the  objects  of  our  journey  w^as  to  explore  Lake 


204  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Chad,  or,  at  all  events,  to  stand  upon  its  shores  and  look 
out  upon  its  waters. 

"We  had  paid  half  our  backsheesh,  or  tribute  money, 
to  the  sheikh,  and  now  we  paid  the  other  half.  Then,  as 
is  customary  in  this  part  of  the  world,  we  exchanged  small 
presents  with  the  sheikh,  and  when  camp  was  broken  the 
next  morning  our  paths  divided,  and  we  saw  each  other 
no  more.  Our  horses  and  camels  rebelled  somewhat,  but 
not  seriously ;  when  our  lines  of  march  separated  they 
seemed  to  think,  naturally  enough,  that  something  was 
wrong  about  our  movements  that  morning,  but  in  a  little 
while  they  were  quite  reconciled  to  the  situation. 

"  Although  we  were  still  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
the  lake,  before  the  day  ended  we  saw  in  the  valley  traces 
of  a  flood  which  is  said  to  take  place  annually.  The  lake 
is  situated  in  a  vast  plain,  and  this  plain  is  elevated  so 
slightly  above  the  lower  level  of  the  lake  that  a  consider- 
able part  of  it  is  overflowed  at  the  time  of  the  annual  rains. 
The  ground  was  thickly  covered  with  grass,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  day  we  entered  a  broad  belt  of  trees  which 
partly  surrounds  Lake  Chad.  It  should  be  understood, 
however,  that  the  forest  is  not  a  dense  and  continuous 
one,  encircling  the  lake,  but  is  rather  a  series  of  clusters 
with  open  spaces  here  and  there.  These  clusters  consist 
of  palms,  tamarinds,  and  other  tropical  trees ;  the  open 
spaces  between  these  clusters  are  quite  fertile,  and  several 
kinds  of  grain  are  produced  there,  including  maize,  or 
what  is  known  in  America  as  Indian  corn.  On  the  last 
night  before  we  reached  the  lake  we  camped  near  a  fair- 
sized  village,  whose  sheikh  sent  us  a  dish  of  kouskousou 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  205 

made  out  of  Indian  corn.  It  seemed  strange  to  us  to 
come  across  such  a  familiar  home  production,  here  in  the 
heart  of  wild  Africa  ! 

*'In  addition  to  grain  they  cultivate  beans,  lentils,  cu- 
cumbers, melons,  and  similar  things,  so  that  we  managed 
to  fare  very  well  without  drawing  upon  our  supplies. 
The  natives  appeared  friendly,  though  Renaud  said  they 
might  not  have  been  had  they  known  of  the  presence  of 
Christians  in  our  party.  With  our  native  dress  and 
stained  faces  we  were  not  suspected,  and  none  of  our 
people  took  the  trouble  to  tell  them  what  we  were.  They 
presumed  that  we  were  merchants  from  Mourzouk ;  the 
presumption  being  natural  enough,  as  everybody  who 
passed  that  way  was  either  a  merchant  or  a  pilgrim  on 
his  way  to  or  from  Mecca. 

*' Well,  here  we  are!  camped  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Chad.  I  will  let  Harry  tell  you  about  the  lake  and  what 
we  did  there." 

*' We  were  very  glad  to  reach  this  famous  lake,"  said 
Harry  in  his  narrative.  "  Lake  Chad  has  been  known  for 
a  long  time,  for  a  thousand  years  or  more,  but  very  few 
white  men  have  seen  it ;  fewer,  by  far,  than  those  who 
have  looked  upon  the  Victoria  Nyanza,  or  Lake  Tangan- 
yika, both  of  them  discovered  within  the  last  forty  years. 

"Lake  Chad  lies  in  about  latitude  14°  15'  north  and 
longitude  12°  50'  east.  Its  whole  length  is  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  miles,  and  in  its  broadest  part  it  is  nearly  one 
hundred  miles  wide.  According  to  Overweg  and  Clap- 
pertown,  travelers  who  have  visited  it,  the  lake  in  summer 
contains  about  ten  thousand  square  miles  of  surface,  which 


2o6  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

is  increased  to  forty  thousand  or  fifty  thousand  square 
miles  in  winter,  by  reason  of  the  overflowing  of  the  plain 
in  which  it  stands.  Our  observations  confirmed  those  of 
previous  explorers,  as  we  have  seen  everywhere  the  traces 
of  the  annual  rise  of  the  lake  and  learned  of  it  from  the 
natives. 

"By  the  way,  let  me  remark  that  our  intercourse  with 
the  natives  is  somewhat  restricted  on  account  of  their  lan- 
guage. Only  two  or  three  of  the  people  in  our  caravan 
can  talk  with  these  natives,  and  even  they  are  not  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  tongues  spoken  here.  In  talking  with 
them,  every  sentence  and  word  passed  through  three  in- 
terpreters. We  talked  with  Renaud  in  French,  and  he 
talked  in  Arabic  with  the  interpreter,  who  conveys  what 
we  say  to  the  negroes.  It  often  happens  that  by  the  time 
a  question  gets  to  its  destination  it  has  entirely  lost  its 
meaning,  and  when  the  answer  is  returned  its  own  mother 
couldn't  possibly  know  it.  If  you  ask  how  far  it  is  from 
one  end  of  the  lake  to  the  other,  you're  very  liable  to  get 
the  response  that  Tripoli  is  a  larger  city  than  Mourzouk, 
as  if  you  should  ask  in  America  how  long  it  takes  to  go 
from  New  York  to  Philadelphia,  and  be  informed  that 
George  Washington  was  the  father  of  his  country. 

"  I  said  we  camped  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  which  is 
not  strictly  true,  as  the  ground  was  swampy,  and  we  could 
not  approach  with  our  animals  nearer  than  within  three  or 
four  miles  of  the  water.  Between  us  and  the  lake  was  a 
marsh  covered  with  tall  grass  and  reeds  and  extending  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  broken  here  and  there  by 
clusters  of  trees.     On  each  side  of  us  the  marsh  was  consid- 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  207 

erably  wider  than  it  was  at  our  camp,  our  caravan  having 
been  guided  along  a  point  or  peninsula  of  higher  ground 
that  extended  far  out  into  the  marsh.  It  was  too  late  in 
the  day  for  us  to  make  an  exploration  of  any  consequence. 
We  walked  through  the  marsh  towards  the  lake,  some- 
times half  way  to  our  knees  in  the  water,  and  as  the  sun 
neared  the  horizon  we  concluded  it  wise  to  turn  back. 

''The  next  morning  we  were  up  early,  in  the  hope  of 
accomplishing  something  in  our  explorations.  The  native 
guide  whom  we  had  employed  at  the  last  village  sa  d  it 
would  not  be  an  easy  matter  for  us  to  find  a  boat,  as  the 
most  of  the  boats  on  the  lake  belonged  to  the  Bidduma, 
who  are  an  independent  people,  and  hold  very  limited 
relations  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  shore.  He  said  the 
Bidduma  are  a  piratical  lot  of  rascals  ;  occasionally  they 
make  raids  upon  the  villages  surrounding  the  lake,  and 
carry  the  inhabitants  into  slavery.  They  have  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats,  and  herds  of  cattle  and  horses  on  their 
islands,  and  they  cultivate  wheat,  corn,  and  other  vege- 
tables. They  are  generally  reluctant  to  receive  strangers, 
owing  to  their  fear  of  being  plundered  in  the  same  way 
that  they  plunder  people  on  the  land. 

'*  Our  guides  showed  us  a  better  way  to  the  lake  than 
the  one  we  had  followed  on  the  preceding  evening,  which 
was  really  no  path  at  all ;  in  fact,  the  route  by  which  he 
led  us  was  a  regular  roadway  about  four  feet  wide  and 
built  up  with  reeds  and  rushes,  with  now  and  then  a  few 
logs  of  wood.  About  half  way  from  our  camp  to  the  lake 
we  saw  some  people  from  one  of  the  villages  engaged  in 
cutting  reeds,  which  they  make  into  baskets   and  other 


208  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

receptacles,  and  also  use  in  constructing  their  dwellings. 
As  we  neared  the  lake  we  saw  two  boats  quite  close  to  the 
shore,  each  of  them  containing  two  men.  As  soon  as  the 
people  in  the  boat  saw  us  they  pushed  out  further  in 
the  water.  We  gathered  from  our  guide  that  these 
boats  were  doubtless  on  a  man-hunting  expedition,  the 
intention  being  to  capture  some  of  the  people  engaged  in 
cutting  reeds.  The  villagers  could  not  see  the  boatmen,  on 
account  of  the  fringe  of  tall  reeds  along  the  shore,  while 
the  boatmen  could  make  out  the  position  of  the  villagers 
by  crawling  through  the  reeds,  and  occasionally  taking  a 
survey  of  the  ground  before  them.  ' 

"  We  hailed  the  boats,  asking  the  men  in  them  to  come 
to  land,  but  they  were  evidently  suspicious  of  our  intentions. 
The  more  we  called  to  them,  the  further  they  went  from 
us,  and  at  length  disappeared  around  a  bend  in  the  lake 
toward  the  right. 

"While  we  were  wondering  what  had  made  them  go 
away  we  saw  three  boats  coming  around  the  bend  of  the 
shore  towards  the  left.  Evidently  their  object  was  a 
peaceable  one,  as  they  showed  no  hesitation  in  approaching 
us.  They  came  straight  up  to  where  we  were,  running 
the  prows  of  their  boats  on  the  spongy,  reed-covered  shore. 
We  opened  communication  with  them  at  once  ;  at  least,  we 
tried  to  do  so,  but  did  not  succeed  very  well,  owing  to  the 
difference  in  language.  The  language  of  the  Bidduma  is 
a  polyglot,  and  this  circumstance  arises  from  the  fact  that 
the  islands  of  the  lake  have  been  the  resort  of  people  of 
many  tribes  and  districts  fleeing  from  oppression,  and  so 
many  varieties  of  mankind  have  gone  there  at  least  —  of 


A    SLAVE    CARAVAN.  209 

African  mankind  —  that  their  language  is  made  up  of  many 
tongues.  The  islands  of  the  Chad  have  been  populated  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  islands  of  the  Adriatic,  on  which 
Venice  is  built. 

*'  However,  we  managed  to  make  ourselves  understood, 
though  w^ith  considerable  difficulty.  We  told  the  boatmen 
that  we  wished  to  hire  their  craft  either  with  or  without 
themselves,  though  we  greatly  preferred  to  have  them 
along  to  manage  the  boats.  We  also  told  them  that  we 
would  be  greatly  pleased  if  they  would  bring  two  or  three 
more  boats,  and  larger  ones  than  theirs,  if  possible.  The 
boats  they  had  were  not  very  commodious,  as  they  were 
about  twelve  feet  long  by  two  feet  in  width,  hewn  from  a 
single  trunk,  like  the  '  dug-out,'  which  is  frequent  in  many 
of  the  interior  parts  of  the  United  States.  Each  boat  was 
managed  by  two  men,  and  could  carry  altogether  four  men 
with  a  fair  quantity  of  baggage. 

*'  We  told  them  about  the  two  boats  that  had  disappeared 
around  the  bend  of  the  lake,  and  two  of  our  new  found 
friends,  with  one  of  their  craft,  went  in  pursuit  of  the 
runaways.  As  soon  as  they  had  gone  we  sent  Renaud  to 
camp  to  get  a  supply  of  provisions,  weapons,  ammunition, 
astronomical  instruments,  presents  for  the  Bidduma  chiefs, 
and  a  few  other  things.  We  w^ere  not  obliged  to  make  the 
journey  back  to  camp  ourselves,  as  we  had  arranged  into 
one  pile  in  our  tents  the  articles  that  w^e  thought  we  should 
need,  and,  therefore,  no  time  was  wasted  in  collecting 
them.  By  good  luck  it  happened  that  just  as  Renaud 
hove  in  sight  with  several  carriers  laden  with  what  we 
sent  for  the  boat  that  had  just  left  us  turned  the  point  with 


2IO  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

another  and  came  in  our  direction.  The  boatmen  had 
succeeded  in  hiring  one  of  the  runaway  craft,  and  with 
this  we  were  content. 

''We  distributed  our  baggage  into  the  four  boats,  and 
then  arranged  our  party  in  the  following  order :  — 

"  Dr.  Whitney  and  Renaud  in  the  first  boat,  Harry  and 
the  Arab  interpreter  in  the  second,  Ned  and  the  native 
guide  in  the  third,  and  Yusef  and  Abdallah  in  the  fourth. 
This  was  about  the  best  arrang^ement  we  could  make  of 
the  party,  and,  even  as  it  was,  whenever  we  had  any  occa- 
sion to  talk  with  the  boatmen  the  work  was  necessarily 
slow ;  the  boats  in  such  cases  were  brought  together  in  a 
cluster  and  the  babel  of  tongues  that  resulted  in  the  com- 
munication of  ideas  was  fearful  and  wonderful,  indeed ! 

''And  now  behold  us  pushing  away  from  the  shore  for 
the  exploration  of  Lake  Chad.  We  have  left  our  camp 
in  charge  of  our  chief  camel  driver,  and  hope  he  will  not 
take  it  into  his  head  to  go  away  without  us." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD. THE 

BIDDUMA. 

IT  did  not  take  long  for  our  friends  to  learn  that  Lake. 
Chad  was  very  well  inhabited.  Several  times  while 
they  were  making  preparations  for  their  voyage  the  waters 
near  their  landing-place  were  disturbed  by  hippopotami, 
or  river  horses.  Ned  said  that  these  creatures  were  so 
numerous  that  the  time  was  too  short  to  pronounce  their 
names  in  full,  and  he  proposed  to  Harry  that  they  should 
henceforth  be  called  *' hippos";  Harry  assented,  and  the 
name  was  adopted. 

*' We  did  not  like  the  looks  of  the  hippos,"  said  Harry, 
in  his  account  of  their  voyage  on  the  lake.  *'They 
haven't  a  pleasing  appearance,  their  countenances  pre- 
senting a  fierce  expression,  and  their  mouths  being  so 
large  that  Renaud  said  they  could  go  down  through  their 
own  throats  without  hitting  the  sides.  With  considerable 
difficulty  we  ascertained  from  the  boatmen  that  the  hippos 
will  not  attack  a  boat  unless  they  are  provoked  to  do  so, 
and  even  then  the  majority  of  them  will  try  to  get  away  if 
they  can.  Like  nearly  all  wild  animals,  they  are  inclined 
to  avoid  the  presence  of  man,  but  they  are  so  numerous  in 
Lake  Chad  that  avoidance  is  not  altogether  easy. 

'*When  we  started   away  from   the   shore,"   continued 

211 


212  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Harry,  "the  hippos  kept  at  a  respectful  distance,  raising 
their  ugly  heads  out  of  the  water,  and  watching  us  with 
apparent  curiosity.  The  men  kept  a  sharp  watch  for 
them,  and  whenever  one  was  seen  in  advance  of  a  boat, 
the  course  of  the  latter  was  changed  somewhat,  or,  if 
necessary,  the  craft  came  to  a  halt.  The  boatmen  ex- 
plained that  if  by  any  carelessness  they  ran  violently 
against  an  old  hippo,  he  was  very  liable  to  take  it  as  a 
challenge  and  indulge  in  a  fight.  A  fight  with  hippos  in 
the  water  is  very  much  to  the  disadvantage  of  a  crew,  and 
very  detrimental  to  a  boat.  We  had  an  accident  of  this 
sort,  and  I  will  tell  you  of  it  later. 

*'The  place  whence  we  started  on  our  journey  was  a 
narrow  bay,  shaped  somewhat  like  the  letter  '  V  '  greatly 
elongated.  The  whole  length  of  this  bay  abounded  with 
hippos  who  come  up  at  night  to  feed  on  the  grass,  and 
if  undisturbed,  do  not  go  far  away  in  the  daytime.  They 
have  regular  paths  from  the  shore  to  their  feeding  ground, 
and  the  natives  take  advantage  of  these  paths  to  entrap  the 
creatures  when  they  come  to  land.  Sometimes  they  dig  a 
pitfall  in  a  path,  covering  it  with  leaves  and  reeds,  and  it 
is  covered  so  carefully  that  an  expert  eye  is  required  to 
discover  its  existence.  As  the  hippo  walks  along  the  path 
he  tumbles  into  the  pitfall,  and  the  next  morning  the 
natives  come  and  dispatch  him  with  spears. 

"Another  way  of  killing  him  is  with  a  spear  poised 
above  the  path,  and  liberated  by  means  of  a  cord  as  the 
animal  pushes  below  it.  Renaud  tells  us  how  he  was  once 
in  a  region  where  hippos  abounded,  and  when  he  was 
walking  along  a  path  near  the  river  he  came  upon  a  cord 


AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD. 


213 


stretched  across  it  about  six  inches  from  the  ground.  His 
first  thought  was  that  somebody  had  dropped  the  cord ;  he 
was  about  to  pick  it  up  when  he  looked  above  his  head  and 
saw  a  cord  extending  out  from  the  limb  of  a  tree  and 
supporting  a  heavy  spear  with  a  stone  fastened  to  the 
handle  to  give  it  additional  weight.  Had  he  touched  the 
cord  while  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  path  he  would 
have  brought  down  the  spear  and,  quite  likely,  would  have 
been  impaled  by  it. 

'*  Renaud  explained  that  the  setting  of  these  traps  was  a 
matter  of  very  careful  calculation ;  the  cord  across  the 
path  must  be  placed  so  high  that  the  animal  will  not 
try  to  step  over  it,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  must  not  be 
high  enough  to  induce  him  to  turn  aside  and  flank  it.  The 
position  of  the  spear  with  its  weight  must  be  so  calculated 
that  when  the  hippo  pushes  against  the  cord  he  will  so 
loosen  the  apparatus  that  the  weapon  will  fall  upon  him 
right  between  the  shoulders.  With  everything  properly 
adjusted,  the  trapper  is  reasonably  sure  of  his  prize,  unless 
the  animals  take  the  alarm  and  go  to  a  safer  feeding  place. 

"As  we  looked  down  the  little  bay  from  the  place 
whence  we  started,  our  view  was  interrupted  by  a  series 
of  islands.  We  discovered  before  going  very  far  that  a 
large  part  of  Lake  Chad  is  taken  up  by  islands,  some  of 
them  quite  small,  and  others  of  goodly  size.  The  smaller 
ones  are  not  inhabited,  but  the  larger  and  higher  ones  have 
a  considerable  population.  Before  leaving  Mourzouk  we 
were  told  that  we  would  have  great  difficulty  in  navigating 
the  lake,  as  the  natives  were  hostile  and  very  jealous  of 
the    intrusion   of   foreigners.      We    were    agreeably    dis- 


214  ^^    WILD    AFRICA. 

appointed  in  this  matter,  as  we  found  them  friendly,  with 
the  exception  of  one  island,  where  the  people  refused  to 
allow  us  to  land.  They  came  down  to  the  shore  with 
spears  in  their  hands  and  made  such  demonstrations  of 
hostility  that  their  words  were  unnecessary  to  explain  their 
feelings  towards  us.  They  threatened  us  with  destruction 
if  we  set  foot  on  their  land,  and,  as  we  did  not  wish  to  be 
destroyed  just  then  and  were  not  seeking  a  fight,  we  gave 
them  the  go-by  and  proceeded  on  our  journey.  Exactly 
why  they  treated  us  so  uncivilly  we  were  unable  to  learn, 
but  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  had  recently  enter- 
tained visitors  who  behaved  so  badly  as  to  lead  the 
islanders  to  adopt  a  policy  of  seclusion. 

*'  During  all  of  our  first  day  upon  the  waters  we  were  in 
a  labyrinth  of  islands,  and  if  our  boatmen  had  deserted  us 
we  would  have  experienced  great  difficulty  in  finding  our 
way  back  to  the  starting  point.  Our  first  night  was  passed 
on  an  island  where  there  was  a  small  village.  Not  more 
than  half  of  the  surface  of  the  island  was  tillable,  the  rest 
being  a  marsh  where  the  reeds  and  papyrus  plants  grew  to 
a  height  of  ten  or  twelve  feet.  The  natives  received  us 
very  kindly ;  they  erected  grass  huts  for  our  accommoda- 
tion, and  supplied  us  with  kouskousou  made  from  wheat 
and  also  from  Indian  corn.  It  seems  that  they  cultivate 
both  of  these  grains,  together  with  onions,  beans,  and  other 
vegetables.  They  had  a  good-sized  herd  of  cattle  and 
flocks  of  sheep  and  goats ;  we  bought  a  sheep  for  about 
ten  cents'  worth  of  copper  wire,  and  the  native  who  sold  it 
to  us  acted  as  though  he  had  made  the  best  bargain  of  his 
lifetime.     The  sheikh  was  very  attentive,  and  when  we 


AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD.  215 

left  the  next  morning  we  presented  him  with  a  large 
cotton  handkerchief  on  which  was  printed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  a  portrait  of  George  Washington. 
He  had  not  the  remotest  idea  of  the  printing  upon  the 
handkerchief,  but  the  gaudy  colors  took  his  fancy,  and  his 
face  wore  an  expression  of  ecstatic  happiness. 

*'  Most  of  the  native  dwellings  on  the  islands  are  made 
of  grass  and  reeds,  but  on  the  larger  islands  many  of  the 
houses  are  constructed  with  regular  walls  of  clay  or  mud. 
The  Bidduma  are  supposed  to  be  governed  by  a  sheikh 
who  lives  on  one  of  the  larger  islands,  and  whose  town  or 
village  is  the  most  populous  of  all ;  but,  as  nearly  as  we 
could  ascertain,  his  authority  is  more  nominal  than  real, 
many  of  the  islands  being  independent  of  each  other,  and 
acknowledging  no  government  but  their  own.  Sometimes 
these  island  communities  get  to  warring  with  one  another, 
and  when  they  do  so  the  rest  assume  a  neutral  position 
and  let  them  light  it  out.  In  such  cases  the  quarrel  does 
not  end  until  both  sides  are  pretty  well  exhausted. 

"  During  the  whole  of  the  second  day  we  continued  in 
the  labyrinth  of  islands,  but  our  boatmen  informed  us  that 
we  were  getting  near  the  Inkibul,  or  open  water,  and 
would  see  it  early  on  our  third  day.  At  the  island  where 
we  made  our  landing  near  the  end  of  the  second  day  we 
saw  on  the  shore  some  boats  much  larger  than  our  own, 
and  it  immediately  occurred  to  us  that  it  would  be  well  to 
secure  some  of  these  boats.  We  told  Renaud  to  nego- 
tiate for  them,  and  he  proceeded  to  do  so.  Our  boatmen 
had  anticipated  this,  as  they  knew  that  their  own  boats 
were  too  small  to  navigate  the  open  water  with  safety. 


2l6  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

**They  arranged  to  leave  their  own  craft  behind,  and 
to  continue  with  us  on  two  of  the  larger  boats,  taking 
along  others  of  their  countrymen  to  assist  in  the  navi- 
gation. The  boats  that  they  secured  were  much  more 
comfortable  than  the  small  craft  in  which  we  had  been 
traveling.  One  was  about  thirty  feet  long  and  four  or 
five  feet  wide,  while  the  other  had  a  length  of  not  less 
than  thirty-five  feet  and  a  width  of  six  feet.  We  saw 
larger  boats  than  these,  and  when  we  started  away  we 
were  accompanied  by  quite  a  flotilla,  in  which  there  was  one 
boat  not  less  than  fifty  feet  long,  and  it  seemed  to  me, 
although  we  did  not  measure  it,  fully  seven  feet  across. 

*' These  boats  are  rather  low  in  the  center,  but  high  at 
the  bow  and  stern,  the  bow  being  carried  high  in  the  air 
and  reminding  us  somewhat  of  a  Venetian  gondola.  These 
larger  boats  are  not  hollowed  out  from  logs,  like  the  ones 
we  first  saw,  but  constructed  of  planks  from  the  fogo  tree, 
fastened  together  with  ropes  and  caulked  with  fine  moss 
which  is  found  on  many  of  the  islands  in  the  lake.  We 
found  the  boats  quite  seaworthy,  but  they  leaked  so  much 
that  one  man  was  constantly  engaged  in  bailing  out  each 
craft. 

'*We  came  out  into  the  open  water,  and  it  did  not 
require  a  great  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  believe  that 
we  were  on  the  ocean.  On  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake 
no  land  was  in  sight,  the  water  stretching  away  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach.  There  was  a  gentle  wind  blowing 
from  the  north  and  throwing  up  little  waves,  exactly  such 
as  the  wind  produces  in  any  other  body  of  water.  During 
the  day  the  wind  increased,   and,  though  the  natives  did 


AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD.  217 

not  appear  to  mind  it,  it  seemed  to  me  that  navigation  in 
these  shallow  boats  was  not  the  safest  in  the  world.  We 
wanted  to  cross  over  to  the  eastern  shore,  but  the  boatmen 
dissuaded  us  from  doing  so  by  saying  that  the  natives 
there  were  hostile,  and  the  lives  of  all  would  be  endan- 
gered if  we  went  there.  We  did  not  press  them  very 
hard,  as  we  were  not  over-confident  that  we  could  get  to 
the  shore  at  all  in  case  we  ventured  in  that  direction. 
A  storm  would  swamp  our  boats  and  probably  drown 
every  one  of  us,  and  that  was  a  result  not  very  pleasant  to 
contemplate,  so  we  concluded  to  let  well  enough  alone 
and  stay  where  we  were. 

*' We  skirted  the  islands  of  the  western  shore,  coming 
to  land  occasionally  and  making  friends  with  the  natives. 
Sometimes  we  found  quite  a  difference  in  complexion 
and  other  peculiarities  of  the  people  of  one  island  and 
those  of  another,  indicating  that  they  were  not  of  the  same 
tribe,  but  had  come  there  from  different  localities.  Be- 
tween some  of  the  islands  and  others  there  was  not  infre- 
quently a  difference  of  language ;  they  had  a  good  many 
words  in  common,  but  each  island,  as  a  general  thing, 
had  some  words,  especially  the  names  of  things,  which 
were  peculiar  to  itself.  There  was  also  a  difference  in 
costume,  but  this,  however,  was  not  great,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  Bidduma  generally  have  no  costume  to 
speak  of. 

*'The  ordinary  natives  usually  wear  nothing  more  than 
a  strip  of  cloth  about  the  waist;  sometimes,  in  cold  or 
stormy  weather,  they  wrap  themselves  in  mats  or  blankets 
woven   out   of  reeds   and   grass.     The   Bidduma    sheikhs 


2l8  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

mark  their  superiority  over  their  subjects  by  wearing  a 
white  bournous  over  a  tobe  or  shirt  of  black  or  brown 
material  and  covering  their  heads  with  turbans.  Some 
of  the  people  wear  leather  aprons  about  the  waist  and 
strings  of  beads  around  the  neck,  and  these  two  articles 
constitute  their  only  clothing.  The  effect  is  better  than 
one  might  suppose,  as  the  beads  make  a  very  pretty  con- 
trast against  the  black  skin  of  the  body ;  the  skin  is  of  a 
rich  velvety  appearance,  and  from  constant  exposure  it 
runs  no  risk  of  blistering  in  the  hottest  African  sun. 

"We  looked  for  articles  of  Bidduma  manufacture,  but 
found  very  few.  They  showed  us  some  specimens  of 
beadwork  and  coarse  embroidery :  we  bought  a  few  of 
these,  but  they  were  not  particularly  striking,  and  we  did 
not  invest  heavily.  Their  blacksmiths  are  really  very 
skilful  in  working  in  iron,  but,  unfortunately,  their  supply 
of  material  is  very  limited,  and  they  have  barely  enough 
to  supply  themselves  with  spears  and  arrow  heads.  The 
greatest  working  skill  displayed  by  these  people  is  in  the 
construction  of  their  boats ;  this  is  natural  enough,  as  they 
would  be  very  helpless  without  boats,  and,  consequently, 
all  the  powers  of  their  intellects  are  devoted  to  the  develop- 
ment of  their  sailing  and  rowing  craft. 

"  Their  implements  of  agriculture  are  of  the  rudest  sort, 
resembling  those  of  barbaric  people  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Their  plows  are  the  wooden  implements  of  the 
kind  that  have  been  used  for  thousands  of  years ;  a  limb 
or  root  of  a  tree  serves  as  the  share,  while  another  limb 
or  root  forms  the  beam  of  the  implement.  This  is  drawn 
by  a  pair  of  oxen,  and  sometimes  by  a  single  ox,  and  on 


AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD.  219 

some  of  the  islands  by  a  single  horse  or  a  pair  of  horses. 
Only  a  portion  of  the  islands  have  horses,  and  we  were 
told  that  the  natives  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  own 
these  animals  are  unwilling  to  sell  them  to  the  occupants 
of  other  islands  than  their  own.  They  sometimes  sell 
horses  for  transportation  to  the  mainland,  but  thus  far  the 
number  of  these  animals  is  not  sufficient  to  create  any 
trade  of  consequence. 

**  On  the  islands  where  cattle  abound  we  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  fresh  milk.  The  rearing  of  cattle  is 
quite  an  important  business  with  these  natives,  and  in 
every  community  there  is  an  official  whose  title  is  the 
equivalent  of  *  Inspector  of  Cattle,'  and  the  herds  are 
under  his  charge.  He  selects  the  pasturage,  orders  the 
construction  of  yards  where  they  are  to  be  kept  at  night, 
and,  in  fact,  has  a  general  supervision  such  as  is  indicated 
by  his  title.  He  picks  out  the  animals  for  slaughter  or 
for  sale,  and  where  they  are  killed  on  the  islands,  the 
meat  is  eaten  by  the  owners,  and  the  hides  are  dried  and 
used  for  whatever  purpose  they  are  adapted  among  these 
barbaric  people.  All  the  tribes  dwelling  on  the  shores  of 
the  lake  are  owners  of  cattle,  and  several  hundred  animals 
are  not  infrequently  seen  in  one  herd. 

"  I  came  near  forgetting  our  adventure  with  the  hippo, 
which  I  referred  to  a  few  pages  back. 

*'We  were  going  at  a  good  pace  through  the  water 
when  the  boat  which  was  carrying  the  doctor  and  ourselves 
struck  violently  against  something.     I  shouted,  '  A  log  ! ' 

''  Ned  called  out,  *  A  rock  ! '  But  the  doctor,  older  and 
wiser  than  we,  exclaimed,  '  A  hippo  ! ' 


220  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

**The  doctor  was  right;  it  was  a  hippo,  and  a  large 
one,  and  savage,  too. 

*'The  boat  trembled  and  recoiled,  and  as  it  did  so  we 
saw  a  monstrous,  ugly  head  rising  out  of  the  water, 
directly  abeam  of  us,  and  not  more  than  ten  feet  away. 
He  looked  ugly,  and  his  character  of  ugliness  was  increased 
as  he  came  towards  us  with  mouth  wide  open. 

*'  Instinctively  we  seized  our  rifles,  which  were  close  at 
hand,  but  before  we  could  bring  them  to  bear  the  brute 
was  upon  us. 

*'One  of  the  boatmen  was  sitting  directly  in  front  of 
Dr.  Whitney,  and  his  oar  extended  over  the  side  of  the 
boat.  The  hippo  seized  this  oar  and  crushed  it  as  though 
it  were  an  egg-shell ;  then  he  turned  to  attack  the  boat, 
again  opening  his  mouth  as  he  had  opened  it  before. 

'*It  was  a  very  unwise  action  on  his  part,  that  of 
opening  his  mouth,  as  it  gave  the  doctor  and  Ned  an 
opportunity  to  discharge  their  rifles  directly  down  his  throat, 
and,  what  was  worse  for  the  monster  hippo,  Ned's  rifle 
carried  an  explosive  bullet  which  burst  as  it  struck  its 
mark.  Explosive  bullets  are  forbidden  in  civilized  war- 
fare, but  there  is  no  restriction  upon  their  use  among  wild 
and  ferocious  animals.  African  hunters  in  these  modern 
times  always  carry  them,  and  so- do  hunters  of  big  game 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.  There  is  no  place  where  they 
come  in  more  handily  than  when  one  is  dealing  with  a 
hippo  or  a  crocodile. 

'*The  rest  of  bur  hippo  story  is  soon  told,  as  the 
explosive  bullet  did  its  work  effectively ;  at  any  rate,  it 
ended   the   attack   upon   us,  and   after  receiving   another 


IT    GAVE    THE    DOCTOR  AND   NED  AN    OPPORTUNITY    TO     DISCHARGE     THEIR 
RIFLES    DIRECTLY    DOWN    HIS    THROAT." 


AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD.  221 

volley,  our  assailant  disappeared,  leaving  the  boat  and  its 
occupants  unharmed. 

*' Several  times  during  the  voyage  our  boats  touched 
against  these  animals,  the  contacts  always  being  accidental, 
and  ones  which  we  would  have  gladly  avoided.  The 
natives,  seeing  the  effectiveness  of  our  weapons,  wanted  us 
to  make  a  general  slaughter  of  these  usually  inoffensive 
creatures,  which  request  we  emphatically  refused.  We 
were  willing  to  destroy  noxious  creatures  like  lions, 
panthers,  crocodiles,  and  the  like,  but  were  quite  unwilling 
to  indulge  in  a  general  work  of  destruction. 

**  Crocodiles  are  numerous  in  Lake  Chad,  but  less  so 
than  hippos.  We  saw  them  occasionally  lying  on  sand- 
bars and  enjoying  the  sun,  and  whenever  we  could  get 
near  enough  to  them  without  taking  too  much  trouble  and 
losing  too  much  time  we  usually  embraced  the  opportunity 
for  a  shot  at  them.  Crocodiles  are  far  more  dangerous 
than  river-horses,  as  they  attack  people  while  bathing,  or 
those  who  may  be  accidentally  thrown  into  the  water  by  the 
overturning  of  a  boat.  For  this  reason  every  man  is  the 
crocodile's  enemy  and  is  ready  to  engage  in  his  destruction. 
The  crocodile  is  caught  in  pitfalls,  very  much  the  same 
as  those  in  which  the  river-horse  is  taken,  but  with  a 
difference  consequent  upon  the  peculiarities  of  the  animal. 

"  On  a  sand-bar  frequented  by  crocodiles  a  deep  pit  is 
dug  of  a  circular  form,  leaving  in  the  center  a  sort  of 
island  eight  or  ten  feet  in  diameter ;  a  stake  is  driven  in 
the  center  of  this  island,  and  just  at  nightfall,  some  day,  a 
young  goat  is  tied  to  the  stake.  As  the  crocodiles  come 
up  from  the  water  to  land  on  the   shore,  they   hear  the 


222  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

bleating  of  the  kid,  and  at  once  proceed  towards  it.  The 
pitfall  has  been  covered  over  in  the  same  manner  as  the  one 
for  the  river-horse,  and  the  crocodile,  in  his  anxiety  to 
reach  the  prey,  falls  into  the  trap  set  for  him,  and  is  caught. 
Sometimes  several  of  the  saurians  will  be  taken  in  a  single 
night. 

*'  Crocodile  flesh  is  eaten  by  the  natives,  and  we  were 
offered  some  steaks  cut  from  a  crocodile  caught  only  a 
few  hours  before,  but  it  smelt  so  strongly  of  musk  that  we 
were  unable  to  eat  it.  Even  when  it  is  thoroughly  boiled 
the  musky  flavor  remains,  and  as  for  broiling  or  roasting, 
it  only  seemed  to  increase  rather  than  diminish  the,  to  us, 
disagreeable  odor. 

"Geographers  have  disputed  a  good  deal,"  continued 
Harry,  "as  to  whether  Lake  Chad  was  fresh  or  salt; 
some  of  the  Europeans  who  had  previously  visited  it  pro- 
nounced it  a  fresh  water  lake,  while  others  declare  that 
its  waters  are  brackish  and  not  fresh,  while  still  others 
have  assured  us  that  it  is  undeniably  salt.  We  have  tasted 
it  over  and  over  again,  have  dipped  the  water  from  the 
lake  with  a  tin  cup  and  drank  it,  and  we  assert,  with  all 
possible  vehemence,  that  it  is  absolutely  sweet  and  fresh. 
And  yet  how  can  you  account  for  the  fact  that  men  whose 
veracity  is  unquestioned  have  pronounced  Lake  Chad  a 
salt  lake?     This  is  the  way  I  explain  it :  — 

"  We  have  already  told  you  that  in  winter  the  lake  rises 
to  a  great  height,  owing  to  the  flatness  of  the  ground  around 
it.  As  already  stated,  its  area  at  low  water  is  only  one 
fourth  of  its  area  at  high  water.  It  receives  the  water  of 
several  streams  which  are  nearly  dry  in  summer,  but  have 


AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD.  223 

a  considerable  volume  at  the  time  of  the  annual  rains. 
The  lake  has  no  outlet,  properly  speaking,  in  its  low  stage, 
and  consequently  one  might  naturally  expect  it  to  be  salt, 
but  in  the  season  of  flood  its  surplus  water  is  poured  into  a 
great  basin  called  the  Dodele,  three  hundred  miles  north- 
ward, by  a  broad  channel  which  is  known  as  the  Bahr-el 
Ghazal.  The  throwing  off  of  its  surplus  water  every  year 
saves  the  lake  from  becoming  salt,  and  now  there's  some- 
thing else  I  must  tell  you. 

''The  plain  around  the  lake  contains  a  good  deal  of 
natron,  or  soda ;  now,  when  the  lake  has  overflowed  this 
plain  and  the  water  is  subsiding  little  ponds  and  pools  are 
left  wherever  there  is  a  depression  in  the  ground.  These 
ponds  are  slowly  dried  away  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  the 
water  of  the  ponds  absorbs  the  natron,  and  when  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  water  is  dried  away  the  remainder 
will  have  a  very  salty  taste.  It  was  doubtless  from  tasting 
the  waters  of  these  ponds  surrounding  the  lake  that 
previous  travelers  jumped  to  the  conclusion  which  we  have 
mentioned.  Not  very  far  from  where  we  camped  there 
was  one  of  these  little  ponds,  and  the  water  it  contained 
had  altogether  too  strong  a  flavor  of  soda  to  be  palatable. 
Dr.  Whitney  said  it  reminded  him  of  the  alkali  lakes  and 
ponds  between  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Pacific  coast  of 
the  United  States. 

''We  found,"  continued  Harry,  "that  the  lake,  large 
as  it  is,  is  very  shallow ;  we  frequently  threw  over  a 
sounding  lead,  and  nowhere  did  we  find  a  depth  of  more 
than  one  hundred  feet,  and  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
soundings  that  we  made  were  of  less  than  fifty  feet.     At 


224 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


the  villages  on  the  islands  they  showed  us  fishes  taken 
from  the  lake,  and  we  tried  to  eat  some  of  them,  but  with 
no  great  success.  Had  we  been  hungry  we  might  have 
found  them  eatable,  but  altogether  they  were  no  exception 
to  the  rule  that  fish  of  African  rivers  are  of  very  poor 
quality.  We  saw  some  very  large  turtles  and  induced  the 
natives  to  catch  one  for  us.  The  flesh  of  these  turtles  was 
not  at  all  bad ;  it  had  a  decidedly  musky  smell,  which 
mostly  disappeared  in  the  cooking.  Our  culinary  arrange- 
ments were  not  of  the  best ;  perhaps  if  we  had  been  able 
to  submit  our  turtle  steaks  to  a  French  chef  they  would 
have  been  as  toothsome  as  one  could  wish  ;  but,  under  the 
circumstances,  I'm  not  inclined  to  praise  them. 

"  Each  of  our  boats  carried  a  square  sail  made  of  leather, 
or  rather  of  untanned  hides,  scraped  thin,  and  made  flexible 
by  a  great  deal  of  severe  pounding.  Considering  the  size 
of  the  boat,  the  sail  was  small,  and  only  allowed  us  to  run 
before  the  wind.  With  sails  and  oars  we  made  a  speed  of 
perhaps  five  and  a  half  or  six  miles  an  hour ;  the  wind 
increased  on  the  second  day  and  accelerated  our  speed 
somewhat,  but  not  greatly.  What  we  were  aiming  to  do 
was  to  reach  the  southwestern  end  of  the  lake,  where  there 
was  a  town  called  Kukawa ;  from  there  we  intended  to 
send  Renaud  back  to  the  camp,  retaining  the  servants  with 
us  until  he  returned  with  the  caravan. 

*'  Suddenly  in  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  the  wind 
turned  square  around,  blowing  in  our  faces  as  we  looked 
towards  the  south.-  This  was  a  discouraging  situation, 
but  it  lasted  only  a  short  time,  as  a  squall  came  on,  com- 
pelling us  to  seek  shelter  in  a  narrow  passageway  between 


AMPHIBIOUS    INHABITANTS    OF    LAKE    CHAD.  225 

two  islands.  When  it  abated  we  found  that  the  wind  had 
gone  back  to  its  old  quarter,  and  we  were  able  to  make 
good  progress  in  the  desired  direction. 

''We  reached  the  landing  place  at  Kukawa  just  at 
sunset ;  a  crowd  of  natives  came  down  to  greet  us,  and  the 
news  of  the  arrival  of  our  distinguished  selves  was  speedily 
taken  to  the  authorities.  In  a  little  while  the  sheikh  of  the 
place  came  in  person  to  welcome  us  to  Kukawa,  and 
promised  us  all  the  hospitality  it  could  afford.  A  house 
was  placed  at  our  disposal,  and  as  soon  as  it  could  be 
prepared  the  usual  dish  of  kouskousou  was  served,  together 
with  other  things  to  complete  our  evening  meal." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

KUKAWA SULTAN    OF    BORNOO. 


KUKAWA  is  a  place  of  considerable  importance,  as  it 
was  until  recently  the  capital  of  the  kingdom,  or 
sultanate,  of  Bornoo,  and  is  the  center  of  a  large  trade. 
Caravans  go  and  come  in  all  directions  ;  to  Mourzouk  a^d 
Tripoli  in  the  north,  Touat  and  Timbuctoo  in  the  west,  the 
Niger  and  towns  along  its  banks  to  the  south,  and  the 
Soudan  and  Valley  of  the  Nile  to  the  east. 

The  old  saying,  "Uneasy  lies  the  head  that  wears  a 
crown,"  is  brought  to  mind  by  the  political  history  of 
Bornoo.  For  the  last  hundred  years  the  majority  of  the 
rulers  of  this  kingdom  have  died  violent  deaths,  and  the 
terms  of  most  of  them  have  not  been  long.  Whenever  an 
aspirant  obtains  the  throne  he  is  at  once  the  object  of 
conspiracies  to  deprive  him  of  his  powers  and  also  of  his 
life.  These  conspiracies  are  almost  always  hatched  by 
the  brothers  or  near  relatives  of  the  sultan  and  are  usually 
successful.  The  sultan  is  strangled,  or  otherwise  put  out 
of  the  way,  and  his  vizier  and  other  officers  under  him, 
unless  they  happen  to  be  in  the  conspiracy,  are  served  in 
the  same  manner  as  their  chief.  A  new  ruler  ascends  the 
throne  with  great  pomp  and  dignity,  and  his  dignity  lasts 
until  a  successful  conspiracy  is  hatched  against  him,  when 

he  goes  the  way  of  his  predecessors. 

226 


KUKAWA. 


227 


The  sultan  of  Bornoo,  at  the  time  our  friends  visited  that 
country,  had  been  in  office  less  than  a  year ;  he  was  said 
to  be  an  intelligent,  broad-minded,  and  benevolent  man, 
who  had  reached  his  place  of  power  by  causing  his  brother 
to  be  put  to  death.  Ned  and  Harry  were  unable  to  recon- 
cile this  act  of  the  sultan  with  his  alleged  character,  but 
the  doctor  explained  that  in  Africa,  and  also  in  Asia,  a 
benevolent  and  intelligent  man  might  cause  the  murder  of 
all  his  relatives  without  any  detriment  to  his  reputation. 

"  I've  known,"  said  the  doctor,  "  a  man  to  be  moved  to 
tears  at  the  illness  of  his  favorite  donkey ;  yet  this  same 
man  had  caused  his  parents  and  two  of  his  brothers  to  be 
strangled  in  order  that  he  might  rise  to  a  position  of  honor. 
Instances  of  this  sort  are  quite  abundant  throughout  all 
Africa,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  this  sultan  of  Bornoo, 
who  caused  the  death  of  his  brother,  may  be  all  that  is 
claimed  for  him  in  the  way  of  mildness,  and  more,  too." 

On  the  morning  following  the  arrival  of  our  friends  a 
considerable  crowd  gathered  around  the  house  to  get  a 
sight  of  the  strangers.  It  became  noised  about  that  one 
of  the  three  was  a  doctor,  and,  as  had  happened  in  other 
places,  the  lame  and  blind  were  brought  to  him  for  relief. 
Unfortunately,  most  of  the  cases  presented  were  incurable, 
and  those  who  came  for  relief  were  sent  away  disappointed  ; 
a  good  many  cases  of  ophthalmia  were  brought  forward, 
and  these  the  doctor  was  able  to  alleviate,  though  he  could 
not,  as  a  general  thing,  cure  them.  Fevers  and  diseases 
of  that  sort  he  could  manage,  but  he  had  found  by  expe- 
rience that  it  was  advisable  not  to  give  any  of  the  natives  a 
supply  of  medicine  to  carry  away  and  take  from  time  to 


2  28  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

time.  On  one  occasion  he  came  very  near  getting  into 
serious  trouble  by  intrusting  a  supply  of  medicine  to  a  man, 
whom  he  thought  intelligent  enough  to  follow  his  directions. 
This  is  the  story  as  he  tells  it :  — 

''The  man  was  sheikh  of  a  village,"  said  the  doctor, 
"and  complained  of  suffering  from  a  fever.  I  gave  him 
some  medicine  to  be  taken  in  three  doses  at  intervals  of 
twenty-four  hours ;  in  a  fevv'  hours  he  came  back  again, 
and  said  he  had  forgotten  to  tell  me  he  was  suffering  from 
worms,  in  addition  to  the  fever,  and  wished  to  know  if  the 
fever  medicine  would  help  him  in  the  other  cases  I  told 
him  it  would  not,  and  gave  him  some  worm  powder  in  six 
little  parcels,  instructing  him  to  take  one  of  the  parcels 
daily  until  the  six  were  gone,  and  he  went  home  satisfied 
that  he  was  on  the  way  to  complete  recovery.  Instead  of 
doing  as  I  directed  him,  he  mixed  the  whole  lot  of  medi- 
cine together  and  took  it  at  once. 

"  Well,  it  came  near  killing  him,  but,  thanks  to  a  robust 
constitution,  he  managed  to  pull  through,  though  he  was 
at  death's  door  for  three  or  four  days.  If  he  had  died,  I 
don't  think  my  life  would  have  been  safe  in  or  around  that 
village.  I  tried  to  explain  to  his  friends  that  it  was  his 
own  fault  in  taking  the  medicine  as  he  did,  but  I  don't 
believe  they  understood  me,  or  have  understood  the  case 
to  this  day.  It  is  very  difficult  to  make  them  comprehend 
that  if  medicine  will  do  any  good  in  a  given  number  of 
times  at  intervals  of  twelve  or  twenty-four  hours  that  it  is 
not  just  as  well,  and  a  great  deal  better,  to  take  the  whole 
at  once  and  be  done  with  it." 

All  the  belongings  of  our  friends  were  brought  from  the 


KUKAWA.  229 

boats  to  the  house  which  had  been  assigned  to  them.  The 
Bidduma  boatmen  were  paid  for  their  services,  and  as  soon 
as  they  received  their  compensation  they  immediately 
started  for  their  homes. 

They  would  not  leave  the  landing  place  to  come  up  to 
the  town,  as  they  were  not  on  good  terms  with  the  people 
of  Kukawa,  and  were  afraid  they  would  get  into  trouble. 
They  remained  close  by  their  boats,  and  the  handling  of 
the  baggage  was  performed  by  the  servants  of  our  friends, 
aided  by  several  natives  of  Kukawa,  who  were  hired  for 
the  occasion.  Even  as  it  w^as,  some  of  the  natives  of  the 
place  fell  into  a  wrangle  wath  the  boatmen  at  the  landing, 
and  there  was  a  very  near  approach  to  a  fight.  A  raid 
had  been  made  not  long  before  by  a  party  of  Bidduma 
boatmen  upon  a  village  near  Kukawa,  and  several  natives 
were  carried  into  slavery.  An  intelligent  native  living  in 
the  house  adjoining  that  of  our  friends  told  the  doctor  that 
the  Bidduma  stole  all  their  slaves  and  never  bought  any. 
He  had  no  objection  whatever  to  slavery,  but  thought  it 
exceedingly  wrong  for  the  dwellers  on  the  lake  to  seize 
the  dwellers  on  shore,  and  carry  them  into  slavery  without 
compensation.  If  they  had  bought  their  slaves  from  any- 
body who  had  the  authority  to  do  so  there  could  have 
been  no  objection  to  the  transaction. 

'*We  despatched  Renaud  as  soon  as  we  could,"  said 
Ned  in  his  narrative,  **  to  proceed  up  the  western  shore  of 
the  lake  and  brincr  alonjx  the  caravan.  He  was  accom- 
panied  by  two  guides,  and  in  order  to  enable  them  to 
travel  expeditiously  it  was  necessary  to  buy  horses  or 
camels  for  them.     This  was  a  less  expensive  transaction 


230  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

than  I  supposed ;  Renaud  decided  to  take  horses,  as  the 
country  through  which  he  was  to  pass  was  well  watered 
and  abounded  in  good  grazing  ground.  Ordinarily,  horses 
and  camels  were  about  eight  or  ten  dollars  apiece  at  Ku- 
kawa  ;  he  bought  three  horses  which  answered  his  purpose 
perfectly ;  one  for  himself  at  twelve  dollars,  and  two 
others  at  ten  dollars  each.  Serviceable  saddles  were 
found,  one  for  two  dollars,  and  two  for  a  dollar  and  a 
half  each.  We  paid  for  the  animals  and  saddles  in  Maria 
Theresa  dollars,  of  which  we  had  a  supply  sufficient  for 
our  purpose. 

"We  were  told  that  the  prices  of  horses  and  camels 
vary  considerably ;  sometimes  the  exportation  of  horses  is 
forbidden  and  then  the  prices  are  low.  When  the  prohi- 
bition is  removed,  and  horses  can  be  exported,  the  prices 
advance  at  once,  and  sometimes  they  double  in  the  course 
of  a  few  weeks.  In  the  same  way,  if  a  caravan  is  fitting 
out  at  Kukawa,  camels  are  worth  from  twenty  to  thirty 
dollars  each,  but  if  no  caravan  is  about  to  start  plenty  of 
these  animals  can  be  obtained  at  the  prices  I  have  named. 

''While  we  were  in  the  market-place  selecting  the 
horses,"  Ned  continued,  *'  a  caravan  of  pack-oxen  arrived 
from  the  Soudan.  There  were  about  fifty  oxen  in  the 
train,  accompanied  by  ten  or  twelve  men,  two  of  whom 
were  mounted  on  horses,  the  others  walking  by  the  sides 
of  the  oxen,  or  in  the  rear.  Each  animal  had  a  load  of 
about  three  hundred  pounds,  and  they  were  thoroughly 
docile  and  obedient.  While  the  ox-caravan  was  waiting 
in  the  market-place  the  animals  straggled  somewhat,  but 
when  the  word  was  given  to  move  on  in  the  direction  of  a 


KUKAWA.  231 

warehouse  where  the  burdens  of  the  beasts  were  to  be 
stored,  each  ox  dropped  into  his  place  exactly  as  a  well- 
drilled  soldier  falls  into  his  own  position  when  ranks  are 
formed. 

"We  inquired  about  the  use  of  oxen  as  beasts  of 
burden,  and  found  that  it  is  very  common  in  this  region 
where  water  and  herbage  are  abundant,  and  the  distance 
between  watering-places  is  never  great.  Cattle  are  abun- 
dant and  cheap,  a  good  pack-ox  costing  not  more  than 
two  dollars,  and  an  ordinary  one  from  a  dollar  to  a  dollar 
and  a  half.  Care  must  be  taken  to  feed  the  animals  well, 
or  they  will  fall  away  in  flesh  and  strength  with  great 
rapidity  ;  they  are  useless  in  desert  regions  like  the  Sahara 
where  a  caravan  has  to  travel  for  days  and  days  without 
water,  and  where  food  is  scanty  and  poor.  The  market 
for  pack-oxen  varies  just  as  does  the  market  for  horses 
and  camels  and  for  the  same  reasons ;  prices  are  high 
when  pack-trains  are  about  starting  out,  and  low  when  no 
departing  train  is  contemplated. 

"It  may  interest  you  to  know  something  about  the 
prices  of  Kukawa.  A  milch  cow  is  worth  from  a  dollar 
and  a  half  to  two  dollars ;  a  good  sheep,  fat  and  ready  for 
slaughter,  costs  fifty  cents,  and  corn  and  wheat  are  worth 
about  twenty-five  cents  a  bushel.  The  prices  of  grains 
are  lowest  just  after  the  harvest,  resembling  in  this  respect 
the  markets  of  most  other  countries.  Several  kinds  of 
beans  are  sold,  and  we  found  an  abundance  of  onions, 
but  we  asked  in  vain  for  sweet  potatoes  and  yams  ;  they 
grow  in  the  regions  further  south,  but  are  not  raised 
around  Kukawa.     There   are  two  kinds  of  ground  nuts, 


232  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

which  do  not  correspond  with  any  nuts  with  which  we  are 
famiHar ;  one  of  them,  called  kolche,  is  a  very  important 
article  of  food  and  is  largely  used,  and  they  also  have 
palm  nuts  which  are  eaten  more  by  the  Arabs  than  by  the 
negroes. 

*'We  went  to  the  market  nearly  every  day  when  our 
servants  went  there  to  buy  provisions.  The  mode  of 
dealing  was  very  amusing  to  us,  but  I'm  sure  it  would 
become  very  tedious  in  no  great  length  »of  time.  There 
is  no  standard  currency  for  buying  and  selling ;  they  have 
the  dollar,  as  already  stated,  and  we  had  no  trouble  in 
buying  horses  with  these  coins,  but  for  small  purchases 
for  daily  household  wants,  the  dollar  is  of  little  use,  as  it 
is  altogether  too  large,  and  they  have  no  smaller  coin  in 
Kukawa.  Formerly,  their  standard  of  currency  was  the 
*  rotl,'  or  pound  of  copper,  but  that  has  gone  out  of  use, 
though  the  name  is  still  retained.  They  have  two  other 
articles  which  may  be  called  currency,  one  of  which  is 
the  gabaga,  or  cotton  stripes,  and  also  the  kungona,  or 
cowrie  shell.  The  shells  are  ordinarily  valued  at  one 
thousand  to  the  dollar ;  eight  cowries  or  kungona  are  con- 
sidered equal  to  one  gabaga,  and  eight  gabaga  are  the 
equivalent  of  one  rotl ;  then  for  buying  larger  objects 
there  are  shirts  of  all  kinds  and  sizes,  worth  all  the  way 
from  six  rotls  up  to  fifty  or  sixty. 

''Now  look  at  the  difficulties  created  by  the  intricate 
currency  of  the  market-place.  A  small  farmer  who  brings 
his  corn  to  market  on  Monday,  that  being  the  great  market 
day,  will  not  take  his  payment  in  shells,  nor  will  he  accept 
a  dollar  in  coin.     The  man,  therefore,  who  wants  to  buy 


KUKAWA.  233 

corn,  if  he  has  nothing  but  dollars,  must  first  change  his 
dollar  into  cowrie  shells,  then  with  the  shells  he  must  buv 
a  shirt,  and  after  a  good  deal  of  bartering  he  buys  the 
corn,  giving  the  shirt  for  it.  Sometimes  the  work  of 
buying  our  supplies  was  so  severe  that  the  servants  were 
fairly  tired  out  when  they  got  through  with  it. 

*'The  market-place  is  open  to  the  sky  and  contains 
only  a  few  sheds  and  shelters  from  the  sun.  On  Mondays 
there  is  always  a  great  crowd  of  people  there ;  there  is  a 
market  every  day  in  the  week,  but  it  bears  no  comparison 
with  that  of  Monday,  either  in  the  attendance,  or  in  the 
quality  or  quantity  of  goods  for  sale.  On  the  small  mar- 
ket days  prices  are  always  higher  than  on  the  great  days, 
and  articles  offered  on  Monday  are  sought  for  in  vain  at 
any  other  time. 

**  In  the  provision  section,  as  well  as  in  other  sections 
where  goods  of  small  value  are  sold,  the  dealings  are 
usually  conducted  between  the  buyer  and  seller  directly, 
but  where  the  prices  amount  up  into  dollars,  the  business 
is  in  the  hands  of  dellals  or  brokers,  who  announce  before- 
hand whether  the  buyer  or  seller  pays  the  commission  of 
the  transaction.  If  the  buyer  has  to  pay  it,  the  broker 
endeavors  to  cheapen  the  price  of  the  article,  but  if  he 
receives  his  commission  from  the  seller  he  endeavors  to 
augment  it  as  much  as  possible.  The  brokers  go  up  and 
down  through  the  crowd,  carrying  rolls  of  cloth  and  other 
merchandise,  and  calling  out  as  they  go  the  last  offer  they 
have  received.  This  may  be  called  the  African  st34e  of 
auction,  and  Dr.  Whitney  says  it  is  by  no  means  unknown 
in  other  parts  of  the  world.     There  was  always  a  question 


234  ^^    WILD    AFRICA. 

in  my  mind  as  to  whether  or  no  the  auctioneer  or  broker, 
whichever  we  may  call  him,  was  acting  in  good  faith,  and 
calling  out  only  the  bona  fide  offers  he  had  received. 

"  Our  guide  took  us  to  the  various  sections  of  the  mar- 
ket, bringing  us  in  the  course  of  our  walk  to  that  where 
slaves  were  sold.  There  were  six  or  eight  slave  dealers, 
and  as  they  saw  us  approach  they  drew  up  their  human 
property  in  lines,  where  we  could '  inspect  them.  The 
lowest  number  of  slaves  held  by  any  dealer  was  seven, 
while  the  highest  was  twenty-nine  or  thirty.  Previous  to 
our  arrival,  the  negroes  were  squatted  on  the  ground  in 
groups,  each  dealer  having  his  own  property  in  a  group 
by  themselves. 

'*  All  the  slaves  offered  for  sale  were  full-blooded  and 
thick-lipped  negroes,  either  from  the  Soudan,  or  from  the 
valley  of  the  Niger.  They  were  of  both  sexes,  and  nearly 
all  ages ;  there  being  no  very  young  children,  and  no 
very  old  people  in  the  collection.  We  guessed  that  the 
ages  ranged  from  five  years  to  forty-five  or  fifty,  and  all 
the  slaves  that  we  saw  were  robust  and  strong  of  lim^. 
They  were  scantily  clad,  most  of  them  wearing  nothing 
but  a  loin  cloth,  though  some  of  the  women  had  strips  of 
cotton,  like  large  scarfs,  thrown  over  their  shoulders  and 
gathered  loosely  around  the  waist.  While  seated  on  the 
ground  the  slaves  were  talking  volubly,  but  when  drawn 
up  in  line  they  observed  strict  silence.  Most  of  them 
seemed  indifferent  as  to  whether  they  found  purchasers 
or  not,  but  some  of  the  more  intelligent  ones  looked  long- 
ingly in  our  direction,  as  if  they  felt  we  would  not  be 
unkind  masters,  and  hoped  we  would  buy  them.      It  was 


KUKAWA.  235 

a  saddening  sight,  and  we  only  remained  a  few  minutes 
in  this  section  of  the  market. 

'*  The  market  is  held  outside  of  the  town,  or  rather  out- 
side of  one  of  the  towns.  Kukawa  consists  of  what  may 
be  properly  called  two  distinct  towns,  with  an  open  space 
between  them  nearly  half  a  mile  across.  Both  towns  are 
walled  to  guard  against  a  sudden  invasion  by  hostile 
tribes ;  one  of  them  contains  what  was  once  the  sultan's 
palace,  and  also  the  homes  of  the  wealthier  part  of  the 
inhabitants.  The  other  town  is  the  abode  of  artisans  and 
the  poorer  class  of  people  generally." 

Kukawa,  with  its  two  towns,  is  typical  of  the  kingdom 
of  Bornoo.  The  aristocratic  part  of  the  place  is  occupied 
principally  by  Arabs  who  adhere  to  the  Mohammedan 
religion.  The  other  and  larger  part  is  mostly  inhabited 
by  negroes,  some  of  whom  have  adopted  Mohammedan- 
ism, though  the  majory  are  idolaters  and  have  great  faith 
in  fetichism.  The  inhabitants  of  the  kingdom  are  divided 
in  the  same  way,  the  great  mass  of  people  being  negroes, 
while  the  ruling  class,  very  much  in  the  minority,  are 
Mohammedan  Arabs  of  the  Shooa  sect,  who  invaded  and 
conquered  the  country  a  long  time  ago,  and  have  held  it 
ever  since.  Revolts  take  place  now  and  then,  and  those 
of  the  rebels  who  do  not  succeed  in  running  away  are 
either  executed  or  sold  into  slavery.  Originally  it  was 
the  custom  to  execute  them,  but  some  of  the  thrifty 
sultans  thought  it  a  waste  of  good  slave  material  to  dispose 
of  them  in  this  way;  hence  arose  the  custom  of  selling 
them  to  merchants  from  Tripoli  and  other  distant  places 
where  slave  markets  existed. 


236  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Bornoo  is  very  much  like  Fezzan,  though  its  population 
and  area  are  both  larger  than  those  of  the  last  named 
kingdom.  As  already  stated,  the  country  is  not  specially 
peaceful,  and  a  seat  upon  its  throne  is  rather  unhealthy,  as 
its  occupants  usually  die  at  an  early  age,  by  strangulation 
or  some  other  violent  means  of  destruction.  The  sultans 
not  infrequently  change  their  places  of  abode  with  a  view 
to  lessening  the  number  of  intrigues  against  them,  and 
every  important  town  in  the  country  has  at  one  time  or 
other  been  its  capital. 

The  people  of  Kukawa  impressed  our  friends  as  a  very 
phlegmatic,  indolent  race,  who  could  live,  if  compelled  to 
do  so,  on  very  small  incomes.  Their  houses  are  not  at  all 
costly,  at  least,  those  of  the  poorer  class,  as  they  consist  of 
little  more  than  four  mud  walls  and  a  slender  roof.  Out- 
side of  the  town  they  live  in  grass  huts,  which  can  be 
erected  in  a  few  hours,  and  the  furniture  of  their  dwelling 
places,  either  in  town  or  out  of  it,  consists  of  a  few  pots 
and  pans  for  cooking  and  eating  purposes,  while  the  floor 
is  used  for  sitting  or  lying  down. 

The  chief  disturber  of  the  prevailing  indolence  is  the 
great  number  of  fleas  which  infest  the  houses,  and  are 
powerful  enough  to  penetrate  even  the  thick  skin  of 
the  native  of  Bornoo.  When  an  attack  is  made  in  force 
by  these  fleas  it  tends  to  break  up,  to  some  extent,  the 
monotony  of  idleness,  and  gives  occupation  for  the  finger- 
nails, and  also  for  the  hands  and  arms. 

"  The  house  that  was  assigned  to  us,"  said  Ned,  **  was 
evidently  well  filled  with  fleas  before  we  arrived  in  town ; 
at  least,  that  was  the  result  of  our  experience  during  the 


KUKAWA.  237 

first  night  that  we  occupied  the  dwelling.  The  next  day 
there  was  a  large  accession  of  the  insects,  caused,  no 
doubt,  by  their  curiosity  to  look  at  and  possibly  taste  of 
the  newly  arrived  strangers.  Fortunately,  we  were  well 
provided  with  Persian  powder,  which  we  scattered  liber- 
ally in  our  clothing  and  bedding.  We  also  tried  the  plan 
which  is  in  vogue  here  of  driving  a  small  flock  of  sheep 
into  the  house  a  little  before  sunset.  Great  numbers  of 
the  fleas  settled  upon  the  sheep,  and  went  away  on  them 
when  the  animals  were  removed.  Whether  the  sheep 
liked  the  performance  or  not  we  never  took  the  trouble  to 
inquire. 

**The  men  and  women  of  the  poorer  classes  are  of  a 
distinctly  negro  type,  with  flat  noses  and  thick  lips,  and 
the  hair  kinky  and  curly  like  that  of  the  true  negro  every- 
where. By  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  can  the  men  be 
called  handsome  so  far  as  their  faces  are  concerned,  but 
they  are  well  formed  physically  and  capable  of  great 
endurance  when  compelled  to  undergo  fatigue.  The 
women,  if  anything,  are  uglier  than  the  men,  their  figures 
being  short  and  broad,  their  heads  large,  their  noses  flat 
and  extending  pretty  well  across  their  faces,  while  their 
ugliness,  from  our  point  of  view,  is  increased  by  red  beads 
or  pieces  of  coral  worn  in  the  nostrils.  The  nostrils  are 
very  large,  and  the  nasal  ornaments  are  proportioned 
accordingly. 

*' Whenever  a  woman  can  afford  it  she  wears  a  large 
silver  ornament  on  the  back  of  the  head,  and  she  takes 
great  pains  with  her  hair,  which  is  plaited  in  the  form  of  a 
helmet.     This  head-dress  is  very  becoming,  but  less  so  on 


238  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

a  short,  broad  figure  than  on  a  taller  one.  The  women 
wear  loose  dresses  made  of  imported  cottons  ;  the  dress  is 
usually  not  unlike  that  of  the  civilized  garment,  being 
gathered  loosely  at  the  waist,  and  clearing  the  ground  as 
its  owner  walks  along.  Some  of  the  fashionable  ones 
have  their  dresses  trailing  on  the  ground,  and  it  is  decid- 
edly amusing  to  watch  one  of  these  belles  as  she  prome- 
nades the  street,  keeping  the  ends  of  her  scarf  in  her 
hands,  and  throwing  her  arms  about  in  a  very  coquettish 
way. 

*'  While  waiting  for  the  caravan  to  arrive  we  occupied 
our  time  in  studying  the  people  and  town  and  making 
daily  visits  to  the  sheikh.  The  first  time  we  visited  him 
was  in  the  busy  part  of  the  day,  when  he  was  surrounded 
by  people  to  whom  he  was  administering  justice  after  the 
African  fashion.  Our  conversations  with  him  were  rather 
limited,  as  our  stock  of  Arabic  was  not  large,  and  we 
were  deprived  of  the  presence  of  Renaud,  who  had 
hitherto  served  us  so  admirably  as  an  interpreter. 

**  We  managed  to  get  along  fairly  well,  however,  and 
the  sheikh  was  evidently  proud  of  our  visits ;  when  our 
calls  were  in  the  middle  of  the  day  he  used  to  '  show 
off'  by  discussing  matters  of  science,  especially  astronomy 
and  geography.  His  knowledge  of  these  things  was 
decidedly  limited,  but  we  did  our  best  to  make  him  believe 
he  knew  everything,  and  a  little  more  besides.  Later  in 
the  day,  when  his  public  audiences  were  over,  we  used  to 
find  him  alone  with  his  vizier,  and  then  the  conversation 
took  a  practical  turn.  He  told  us  about  the  countries 
which   surrounded  Bornoo,  the  people  who  inhabit  them, 


KUKAWA.  239 

and  the  rivers  and  mountains,  together  with  other  matters 
of  interest  to  us.  He  wore  a  green  cloak,  which  showed 
that  he  had  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  and  was  there- 
fore entitled  to  high  consideration  from  a  religious  point  of 
view. 

'*  Occasionally  he  invited  us  to  dine  with  him,  and  one 
day  we  returned  the  compliment  by  inviting  him  to  come 
and  dine  at  our  house.  For  the  purpose  of  entertaining 
him  we  brought  out  some  of  our  preserved  delicacies,  but 
he  refrained  from  partaking  of  them  freely,  pardy  for 
sanitary  and  partly  for  religious  reasons.  He  was  afraid 
that  some  of  the  strange  dishes  might  not  be  adapted  to 
his  character  of  Mohammedan  holiness,  and  we  were 
careful  not  to  press  him  beyond  the  point  of  politeness. 
Roasted  sheep  and  kouskousou  were  his  principal  articles 
of  diet,  and,  like  a  good  Mohammedan,  he  was  a  total 
abstainer  from  all  intoxicants  ;  at  least,  we  assumed  that  he  . 
was,  and  never  ventured  to  offer  him  any  kind  of  wine  or 
spirits.  He  was  very  well  disposed  towards  us,  and  we 
kept  careful  notes  of  what  he  said  about  the  roads  and 
routes  of  travel,  feeling  that  the  information  might  be 
greatly  to  our  advantage  before  long." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ELEPHANTS  IN  BORNOO HUNTING  GAZELLES. 

ONE  day  Dr.  Whitney  received  a  letter  from  Renaud 
announcing  that  he  had  safely  reached  the  camp 
and  found  everything  in  order.  Two  of  the  camels 
had  strayed,  and  were  recovered  with  considerable  diffi- 
culty. They  were  caught  by  some  natives  about  twenty 
miles  away  from  the  camp,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
honesty  and  veracity  of  their  captors,  it  is  doubtful  if  the 
travelers  would  have  ever  again  seen  the  animals. 

Renaud  announced  that  he  should  start  for  Kukawa  on 
the  morning  after  despatching  the  note ;  he  would  have 
started  at  once  on  his  arrival  at  the  camp,  but  the  horses 
were  considerably  fatigued,  and  he  thought  they  deserved 
a  few  hours'  rest.  The  riders  of  the  horses  also  came  in 
for  their  share  of  the  fatigue,  and  a  halt  of  a  day  would 
do  them  no  harm. 

In  due  time  the  caravan  reached  Kukawa,  Renaud 
arriving  there  several  hours  in  advance  of  the  camels  ;  li^.' 
had  mounted  the  best  and  freshest  horse  in  the  caravan, 
and  thus  was  able  to  make  good  time  over  the  road.  He 
said  that  he  had  no  serious  difficulty  on  the  journey, 
though  it  was  said  that  a  portion  of  the  route  was  danger- 
ous in  consequence  of  the  presence  of  a  band  of  marauding 
Arabs.     He   had   made  the  necessary  arrangements  for 

340 


ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  24 1 

defendincr  the  caravan  in  case  of  an  attack,  but  it  turned 
out  that  he  had  no  occasion  to  try  the  strength  and  fighting 
quahties  of  his  forces. 

He  added  that  his  escape  from  harm  was  largely,  if  not 
altogether,  due  to  a  misfortune  to  another  caravan.  At 
one  place  there  were  parallel  roads  about  five  miles  apart, 
connecting  two  villages  or  towns  fifty  miles  from  each 
other ;  he  followed  the  road  that  was  nearest  to  the  lake, 
and  both  of  them  were  considered  dangerous.  A  north- 
bound caravan  with  slaves,  ivory,  and  gold  dust  happened 
to  be  passing  along  the  other  road  at  the  same  time ;  the 
attention  of  the  robbers  was  diverted  to  this  caravan,  which 
was  attacked  and  plundered.  The  time  taken  for  the 
capture  and  robbery  of  this  caravan  enabled  Renaud  and 
his  party  to  get  past  the  dangerous  places  without  molesta- 
tion.     "  It's  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  any  good." 

At  another  place  along  the  border  of  the  lake  the  move- 
ment of  the  caravan  w^as  hindered,  but  only  for  an  hour  or 
so,  by  the  presence  of  a  troop  of  wild  elephants.  The 
forests  and  plains  of  the  west  and  southwest  borders  of 
the  lake  are  the  resorts  of  the  elephants  that  go  down  to 
bathe  in  the  waters,  and  in  times  of  drought  in  the  sur- 
rounding country  they  go  to  the  lake  to  satisfy  their 
thirst.  They  feed  in  the  forest  and  jungle,  and,  though 
their  numbers  are  not  great,  one  may  occasionally  see  as 
many  as  forty  or  fifty  in  a  herd.  As  a  general  thing,  they 
are  not  at  all  dangerous,  if  they  are  let  alone,  but  occa- 
sionally there  is  a  vicious  brute  among  them  who  does  not 
hesitate  to  attack  horse,  camel,  or  man  that  comes  in  his 
way.     The  low  ground  around  the  lake  is  infested  with 


242  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

mosquitoes,  and  to  escape  these  pests  the  elephants,  after 
their  bath,  make  their  way  back  to  the  higher  ground. 
Renaud's  party  came  in  sight  of  one  of  these  traveling 
herds  of  elephants  just  as  it  was  about  to  cross  their  road. 
Very  judiciously,  they  halted  until  all  the  members  of  the 
herd  had  passed. 

Our  young  friends  were  quite  desirous  of  seeing  a  herd 
of  wild  elephants ;  they  had  learned  that  the  animals 
abounded  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  lake,  but  thus  far 
they  had  no  opportunity  to  see  them.  They  asked  the 
sheikh  of  Kukawa  about  the  huge  creatures,  and  were 
told  that  by  making  an  excursion  about  thirty  miles  to  the 
south  and  east  they  could  have  their  wishes  gratified. 
Accordingly,  they  obtained  the  doctor's  permission  to  make 
the  excursion,  and,  as  the  caravan  was  not  expected  to 
start  for  several  days,  they  were  off  the  next  morning  on 
an  elephant  expedition.  The  sheikh  kindly  supplied  them 
with  a  mounted  guide  and  an  escort  of  two  of  his  soldiers. 
An  Arab  interpreter  went  with  them,  and  the  understand- 
ing was  that  they  were  to  make  no  attempt  at  killing  any 
big  game  they  saw,  unless  in  the  case  of  stray  elephants 
that  had  been  doing  damage  to  the  fields  and  gardens  of 
the  people.  In  that  event  the  youths  might  try  their  skill, 
but  were  cautioned  to  be  very  careful,  as  they  were  not 
experienced  hunters. 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  say  that  elephants  abound 
in  this  part  of  Bornoo,  and  also  in  Adamawa,  and  all  the 
region  comprising  the  tributaries  of  the  Niger.  There  are 
two  kinds  of  elephants,  one  black,  and  the  other  a  dirty 
yellow ;  they  are  all  of  the  African  species  and  are  not 


ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  243 

domesticated.  They  are  hunted  for  their  ivory,  just  as 
they  are  hunted  in  other  parts  of  Africa.  Their  numbers 
have  diminished  greatly  in  the  last  twenty-five  years,  so 
that  the  quantity  of  ivory  obtained  from  them  is  smaller 
than  it  was  formerly.  The  elephants  of  South  Africa  are 
larger  than  those  in  the  region  in  which  our  friends  were 
traveling,  and  according  to  all  the  information  which 
Dr.  Whitney  could  obtain,  the  Bornoo  elephant  is  not  so 
fierce  in  character  as  his  southern  brother.  The  natives 
catch  the  elephant  by  driving  him  into  pitfalls,  and  on 
rare  occasions  by  shooting  him.  Fortunately  for  the  ele- 
phants, the  guns  which  the  natives  receive  from  the  traders 
are  about  as  useless  against  these  huge  pachyderms  as 
they  would  be  against  a  stone  fortress.  Hunters  with 
rapid  firing  rifles  especially  adapted  to  elephant  hunting 
rarely  penetrate  this  part  of  Africa,  their  attentions  being 
almost  wholly  turned  to  the  southern  and  central  parts. 

In  the  afternoon  our  young  friends  reached  the  village 
in  whose  vicinity  elephants  were  said  to  abound,  and  their 
guide  promised  them  a  sight  of  the  big  animals  at  an  early 
hour  in  the  following  morning.  He  said  the  elephants 
went  down  towards  the  lake  in  the  evening  and  returned 
about  daylight,  and  the  party  must  rise  early  to  go  to  the 
spot  where  the  herd  would  be  seen. 

The  youths  were  up  long  before  daylight,  and  quite 
nervous  over  the  expected  events  of  the  day.  They 
had  brought  their  heaviest  rifles  (Winchesters)  from 
Kukawa,  and,  as  Ned  expressed  it,  **  enough  ammunition 
to  kill  all  the  elephants  in  Bornoo."  Harry  suggested 
that,  as  they  were  not  to  disturb  any  of  the  herds   they 


244  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

might  see,  it  would  be  just  as  well  to  leave  their  weapons 
behind  during  their  morning  excursion.  Ned  opposed  this 
scheme  on  the  ground  that  they  couldn't  tell  what  might 
happen,  and  called  to  mind  the  old  adage,  "What  odd 
things  you  see  when  you  haven't  got  a  gun." 

Ned's  argument  triumphed,  and  it  was  agreed  to  take  the 
guns  and  ammunition  along. 

*'  They'll  be  heavy  loads  for  us  under  the  African  sun," 
said  Harry. 

*'  Loads  for  us  !  "  retorted  Ned  ;  "  what  are  you  thinking 
of?  An  African  hunter  never  carries  his  own  gun,  and 
I'm  not  going  to  carry  mine." 

"Why  not?" 

"Why,  don't  you  remember  that  every  African  hunter 
that  we  read  about  always  has  his  gun-bearer  at  his 
heels?  Don't  you  remember  Stanley's  faithful  Kalil  who 
had  the  proud  position  of  gun-bearer  to  the  great 
explorer ! " 

"  Oh,  yes,  now  I  remember,"  said  Harry.  "  Of  course 
we  must  have  gun-bearers ;  we  ought  to  have  thought  of 
that  before  we  left,  and  brought  some  along  with  us  from 
Kukawa." 

"  Oh,  never  mind  that,"  said  the  other;  "  we'll  pick  out 
two  able-bodied  natives  here  and  make  gun-bearers  of 
them.  Stop  !  what  are  we  thinking  of  !  There's  our  escort 
of  two  soldiers ;  they'll  answer  first  rate  as  gun-bearers." 

"  That's  so  ;  we'll  take  them  along.     Where  are  they?  " 

The  soldiers  were  hunted  up,  and  partly  by  words,  but 
mostly  by  signs,  they  were  instructed  in  their  new  duties. 
Ned  was  uncertain  as  to  whether  it  was  the  proper  thing 


ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  245 

for  the  gun-bearer  to  precede  or  follow  his  master,  and 
Harry  was  equally  in  the  dark  on  the  subject.  They 
finally  concluded  to  have  the  gun-bearers  go  ahead  of 
them,  so  as  to  make  sure  that  the  fellows  would  not  drop 
out  of  sight  just  at  the  time  they  w^ere  most  wanted. 

All  being  ready,  the  party  started ;  the  mounted  guide 
who  came  w^ith  them  from  Kukawa  was  dismounted,  and 
he  and  the  local  guide  led  the  way ;  then  came  Ned,  and 
after  him  Harry,  each  being  immediately  preceded  by  his 
gun-bearer.  The  gun-bearers  were  evidently  unaccustomed 
to  their  duties,  as  they  were  constantly  shifting  the  rifles 
from  one  position  to  another,  and  frequently  putting  the 
muzzles  of  the  weapons  in  the  faces  of  their  owners.  The 
party  was  halted  several  times  in  order  to  give  instruction 
to  these  fellows,  and  have  them  carry  the  rifles  in  such  a 
way  that  no  harm  would  be  done  in  case  the  w^eapons 
went  off  accidentally.  After  a  time  everything  was 
arranged  satisfactorily,  and  the  party  reached  the  spot  where 
it  was  thought  the  elephants  would  pass. 

They  were  near  the  edge  of  a  forest  whence  a  broad 
stretch  of  open  land  extended  to  the  edge  of  the  lake,  two 
or  three  miles  awav.  The  villatjer  who  acted  as  local 
guide  climbed  a  tree  to  increase  his  range  of  observation, 
but  the  rest  of  the  party  remained  on  the  ground.  With 
various  motions  he  enjoined  perfect  silence  upon  every- 
body ;  in  order  to  secure  it,  it  became  necessary  to  sepa- 
rate the  gun-bearers,  as  they  persisted  in  keeping  up  a 
continuous  chattering  as  long  as  they  were  near  each 
other.  Everybody  kept  his  eye  on  the  man  up  the  tree,  as 
he  was  to  give  the  signal  when  the  elephants  came  in  sight. 


■  246  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Half  an  hour,  at  least,  they  waited,  and  Harry  said  the 
stillness  was  so  great  that  you  might  have  dropped  a  pin 
without  knowing  it.  Suddenly  the  watcher  waved  his 
hand,  and  placed  a  forefinger  to  his  lips,  or  rather  to  one 
of  them,  as  their  thickness  prevented  his  covering  both 
lips  with  a  single  digit.  He  pointed  in  the  direction  of  the 
lake,  and  then  they  waited  again. 

After  a  time  the  youths  heard  the  sound  of  snorting  and 
low  trumpeting,  but  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  the 
animals  were  alarmed  in  the  least.  Fortunately,  the  wind 
blew  from  the  elephants  towards  the  waiting  party ;  if  it 
had  blown  the  other  way  the  elephants  would  have  caught 
the  scent  and  changed  their  course. 

The  noise  of  the  herd  came  nearer  and  nearer,  and  in 
addition  to  the  snorting  and  low  trumpeting,  the  tramping 
of  the  huge  beasts  became  audible.  On  and  on  they 
came,  following  the  pathway,  which  no  doubt  they  had 
taken  many  times  before.  It  was  not  more  than  fifty 
yards  from  where  our  young  friends  were  concealed,  and 
as  the  herd  traveled  along  in  single  file,  Ned  and  Harry 
counted  no  fewer  than  nineteen  elephants  in  the  proces- 
sion. 

First  came  an  old  fellow,  evidently  the  leader  in  more 
senses  than  one,  as  he  was  the  largest  of  the  lot,  and 
carried  a  huge  pair  of  tusks.  Behind  him  was  an  ele- 
phant without  tusks,  and  doubtless  the  mother  of  the  third 
member  of  the  troup,  who  appeared  to  be  a  youngster  of 
one  year,  or  perhaps  two.  Then  followed  another  tusker, 
and  behind  him  another  mother  and  her  promising  son. 
The  rest  of  the  troup  was  an  indiscriminate  lot,  two  with 


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ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  247 

tusks,  and  the  others  with  none.  They  varied  consider- 
ably in  size,  the  smallest  of  the  lot  being  a  baby  elephant, 
who  stood,  as  the  youths  judged,  about  three  feet  high  at 
the  shoulder.  Ned  whispered  to  Harry  that  he  would  like 
ever  so  much  to  get  that  little  fellow  alive  and  unharmed, 
and  keep  him  as  a  pet.  Harry  answered,  also  in  a  whis- 
per, that  he,  too,  would  like  to  have  the  youngster  home 
in  America,  but  he  would  have  altogether  too  much  of  an 
elephant  on  his  hands  in  undertaking  to  transport  him  to 
New  York. 

As  the  last  of  the  procession  passed  our  young  friends 
rose  to  their  feet,  and  when  they  did  so  Ned  exclaimed  : 

''  Oh,  how  I  would  like  to  have  taken  a  shot  at  that  big 
fellow  in  the  front !  " 

"Yes,  so  would  I,"  replied  Harry;  *'but  I  think  he 
would  have  made  it  very  lively  for  us  if  we  had  disturbed 
him." 

"  No  doubt,"  was  the  reply.  "  From  all  accounts  these 
big  tuskers  are  very  savage  fellows  when  they  are  attacked. 
I  wonder  if  we're  going  to  have  a  chance  to  try  our  guns 
on  these  animals?" 

**I  don't  know,"  said  Harry;  **  we'll  find  out,  if  we 
can." 

The  watcher  descended  from  his  perch  in  the  tree,  and 
addressed  a  question  to  the  youths,  which,  of  course,  was 
unintelligible  to  them,  but  he  managed  to  make  them  com- 
prehend that  he  was  at  their  service,  and  wanted  to  know 
what  they  wanted  to  do  next. 

It  took  some  time  to  indicate  to  him  that  they  wished  to 
find    a  stray  elephant  not  attached   to   any  herd.     After 


248  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

awhile  he  took  in  their  meaning,  and  indicated  that  he 
would  show  them  what  they  wanted.  Then  he  led  the 
way  back  towards  the  village,  but  when  they  were  yet 
more  than  a  mile  from  it  he  turned  from  the  path,  and, 
after  traveling  for  half  a  mile  or  so,  brought  them  up  to  a 
cluster  of  huts  surrounded  by  little  gardens  enclosed  by 
palings  four  or  five  feet  high,  and  forming  a  fence  suffi- 
cient to  keep  out  cattle  and  other  ordinary  invaders. 

Ned  observed  that  the  fences  of  two  or  three  gardens 
were  broken  down,  as  if  some  heavy  animal  had  pushed 
against  them  and  forced  an  entrance.  The  gaps  thus 
made  were  five  or  six  feet  wide,  and  the  gardens  inside 
appeared  to  have  been  freshly  trampled.  The  beans  and 
other  things  growing  within  had  been  torn  up  and  trodden 
upon,  and  evidently  the  intruder,  whatever  it  was,  had 
destroyed  a  great  deal  more  than  he  had  eaten.  His  foot- 
steps were  imprinted  all  over  the  ground,  and  showed  that 
he  was  an  elephant  of  no  small  size. 

"I  know  what  this  means,"  said  Ned;  "there's  been 
a  rogue  elephant  here,  and  he  has  done  all  this  mischief." 

*' What's  a  rogue  elephant?"  queried  Harry.  *' Is  he 
different  from  any  other?  " 

"He's  the  same  breed  of  elephant,"  was  the  reply; 
*' but  the  peculiarity  about  him  is  that  he  goes  about  by 
himself,  for  some  reason  which  nobody  knows  ;  he  has 
been  driven  out  of  a  herd,  and  no  herd  elephant  will  allow 
the  rogue  to  come  near  him.  When  he  tries  to  get  into  a 
herd  that  is  a  total  stranger  to  him  they  drive  him  away, 
and  even  when  elephants  are  caught  and  driven  together 
into  a  big  yard,  if  a  rogue  elephant  happens  to  be  among 


ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  249 

them,  they  all  keep  clear  of  him.  He  is  an  outcast;  just 
as  a  man  in  civilized  lands  is  shunned  by  all  respectable 
people  when  he  has  committed  forgery  or  some  other 
great  crime.  He  takes  delight  in  being  as  destructive  as 
possible,  and  those  who  know  the  habits  of  elephants  say 
that  when  a  rogue  gets  into  a  garden  or  field  he  does  ten 
times  as  much  damage  as  a  herd  elephant  under  the  same 
circumstances." 

*'  He  must  be  a  very  bad-tempered  fellow,"  replied 
Harry.      "  Isn't  he  a  tough  customer  to  fight  with?  " 

"Yes,  that  he  is,"  answered  Ned.  "  He  is  very  much 
worse  than  any  other  elephant,  and  it  generally  takes  a 
good  deal  of  lead  to  bring  him  down.  He  is  as  bad 
among  elephants  as  the  grizzly  bear  is  among  members  of 
the  ursine  family.  He  is  not  dangerous  if  let  alone,  but 
if  attacked,  he  turns  on  his  assailant  instantly." 

*'  But  we'll  see  if  we  can  bring  down  this  fellow,"  said 
Harry,  ''  if  we  can  only  get  our  guide  to  show  us  w^here 
he  is." 

They  indicated  to  the  guide  that  they  wished  to  en- 
counter the  animal  that  had  destroyed  the  gardens.  The 
guide  pointed  in  the  direction  of  the  forest  and  started 
toward  it,  the  others  following. 

Ned's  mention  of  the  grizzly  bear  brought  to  his  mind 
the  story  of  the  hunter  in  California  who  once  came  upon 
the  track  of  a  grizzly,  and  followed  it  for  eight  or  nine 
hours.  He  then  gave  it  up,  because,  as  he  explained  to  a 
friend,  "  the  track  was  getting  a  little  too  fresh." 

Harry  was  uncertain  whether  he  wished  to  meet  this 
rogue  elephant  face  to  face  or  give  him  a  wide  berth,  but 


250  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

he  did  not  falter  in  his  step,  consoling  himself  with  the 
reflection  that  the  animal  was  probably,  at  least,  a  mile 
away.  The  indications  were  that  the  disturbance  to  the 
garden  had  been  created  during  the  night,  and  conse- 
quently the  intruder  had  been  away  from  there  for  several 
hours. 

Both  youths  thought  that  the  guide  did  not  use  as  much 
caution  as  was  necessary  in  following  the  game,  but  they 
concluded  that,  as  the  elephant  was  ascertained  to  be  a 
good  distance  off,  there  was  no  need  for  especial  care  at 
that  time.  They  went  on  in  this  way  for  about  a  mile, 
when  the  guide  motioned  them  to  be  silent,  and  at  the 
same  time  slackened  his  pace  and  stepped  more  lightly. 

**  Now  !  "  said  Harry,  ''  is  the  time  for  business,"  as  he 
reached  out  and  took  his  rifle  from  the  gun-bearer,  while 
Ned  did  the  same. 

Then  the  party  crept  along,  and  finally,  on  a  sign  from 
the  guide,  came  to  a  halt.  The  guide  waved  his  hand  in 
the  direction  of  a  tree  which  stood  in  an  open  space  some- 
what more  than  an  acre  in  extent.  They  looked  at  the 
tree,  and  then  at  the  guide,  whose  face  wore  an  expres- 
sion of  great  satisfaction ;  he  squatted  on  the  ground,  and 
acted  as  though  his  day's  work  was  ended. 

The  boys  looked  and  wondered,  and  then  went  in  the 
direction  of  the  tree.  They  found  that  the  ground  beneath 
it  was  very  much  trodden,  and  concluded  that  this  was  the 
favorite  resting  place  of  the  elephant  that  had  disturbed 
the  gardens.  After  inspecting  the  place  they  questioned 
the  guide  as  to  where  the  elephant  was.  He  waved  his 
hand  in  the  direction  of  the  forest,  his  movement  embrac- 


ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  25 1 

ing  about  one  half  the  horizon,  plainly  indicating  that  he 
did  not  know  where  the  creature  could  be  found,  and  also 
intimating  that  he  was  not  going  in  pursuit  of  him. 

The  guns  were  returned  to  the  gun-bearers,  and  this 
was  the  end  of  the  elephant  hunt.  Needless  to  say,  Ned 
and  Harry  were  greatly  disappointed,  but  afterwards  they 
candidly  admitted  to  each  other  that  they  were  not  at  all 
sorry  they  failed  to  come  up  and  have  an  encounter  with 
the  big  beast.  Ned  was  again  reminded  of  the  Califor- 
nian  who  followed  the  grizzly's  track,  and  said  that  the 
track  of  the  elephant  under  the  tree  was  quite  fresh 
enough  for  him. 

On  their  way  back  to  the  village,  the  guide  took  them 
past  another  cluster  of  huts,  where  a  garden  liad  been 
arranged  with  the  special  object  of  capturing  any  elephant 
that  intruded  upon  it.  A  circular  space  about  twenty  feet 
in  diameter  had  been  laid  out  and  planted  with  the  vege- 
tables of  which  the  elephant  is  most  fond.  A  ditch  fifteen 
feet  across  and  ten  feet  deep  had  been  dug  quite  around 
it,  and  the  earth  which  had  been  taken  out  was  carried  three 
or  four  hundred  yards  away.  A  flooring  of  poles  and  palm 
leaves  was  built  over  the  ditch,  covered  with  earth,  and 
the  earth  sown  with  the  seed  of  a  quickl}^  growing  grass. 
The  flooring  was  made  strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight 
of  a  man  without  the  least  danger  of  its  giving  away,  but 
if  a  good-sized  elephant  attempted  to  reach  the  garden  he 
would  crush  the  flooring  and  fall  into  the  pit. 

The  pitfall  was  visited  every  day  to  ascertain  if  it  con- 
tained anything.  Elephants,  and  especially  rogues,  are 
not  often  caught  in  this  way,  as  they  are  very  wary,  but 


252  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

occasionally  their  hunger  gets  the  better  of  their  discretion, 
and  in  attempting  to  reach  the  garden  they  fall  into  the 
pit,  from  which  they  are  unable  to  get  out,  provided  they 
are  promptly  discovered. 

Later  in  their  journey  our  young  friends  heard  a  fable 
of  which  Ned  made  careful  note.  The  fable  is  one  of  the 
traditions  of  that  part  of  Africa,  and  Ned  remarked  that  it 
reminded  him  of  the  well-known  anecdote  of  the  mouse 
and  the  lion  ;  here  it  is  :  — 

"An  elephant  one  day  fell  into  a  pit  which  had  been 
made  by  the  natives  for  entrapping  one  of  his  kind. 
While  he  was  bewailing  his  fate  an  eagle  came  along  and 
sat  on  the  branch  of  a  neighboring  tree  ;  the  elephant 
pleaded  to  the  eagle  to  help  him,  but  the  latter  said  he 
could  do  nothing,  except  that  he  could  carry  a  message 
that  the  elephant  might  wish  to  send  to  any  one,  and  he 
added,  '  If  there  is  anybody  for  whom  you  have  ever  done 
a  good  action  send  for  him  and  he  will  come  and  help 
you.' 

"  The  elephant  thought  a  moment ;  then  said  :  — 
'*  *  I  once  saved  the  king  of  the  rats  and  several  hun- 
dreds of  his  subjects  from  being  drowned ;  they  had  been 
caught  and  put  into  large  jars,  which  were  to  be  filled  with 
water  for  the  purpose  of  drowning  them ;  I  came  along 
and  broke  the  jars,  setting  the  rat-king  and  his  subjects 
free.  But  what  can  such  a  little  thing  as  a  rat  do  for 
me?  ' 

**  Just  then  a  parrot  flew  by,  and  the  elephant  said  :  — 
*'  '  Last  year  the  queen  of  the  parrots  had  been  caught 
and  put  in  a  cage  which  hung  outside  the  hut  of  a  native. 


ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  253 

I  came  along  and  pulled  the  cage  into  pieces,  and  the 
queen  parrot  flew  off  into  the  forest.' 

*'The  eagle  called  to  the  parrot  and  told  her  to  go  and 
tell  the  queen  that  her  old  friend,  the  elephant,  was  in 
trouble,  and  also  to  tell  the  rat-king  the  same  thing.  The 
elephant  insisted  to  the  parrot  that  it  was  no  use  sending 
these  messages,  and  he  added  :  — 

"  '  Such  little  things  as  rats  and  parrots  can  do  me  no 
good.' 

'*  In  a  little  while  the  king  of  the  rats  came  with  millions 
of  his  subjects,  and  at  the  same  time  the  sky  was  darkened 
by  myriads  of  parrots,  who  came  with  their  queen.  The 
rats  proceeded  at  once  to  dig  at  the  edge  of  the  pit  and 
throw  the  earth  into  it,  and  at  the  same  time  the  parrots 
broke  off  branches  from  the  trees  and  threw  them  into  the 
pit.  The  earth  thrown  down  by  the  rats  and  the  branches 
which  the  parrots  brought  quickly  filled  the  pit,  and  the 
elephant  walked  away  and  joined  his  companions  in  the 
forest." 

"  That  is  certainly  very  like  the  fable  of  the  mouse  and 
the  lion,"  said  Harry,  as  Ned  read  off  what  he  had  written, 
''  and  it  teaches  the  same  moral." 

"  Undoubtedly,"  replied  Ned.  **  The  mouse  and  the  lion 
incident  is  very  old,  and  so  is  this,  and  it  is  hard  to  tell 
which  of  them  has  the  greatest  antiquity.  One  may  have 
been  taken  from  the  other,  or  each  may  have  an  entirely 
independent  origin." 

The  youths  had  breakfasted  lightly  when  they  set  out  on 
their  expedition  in  the  morning,  and  by  the  time  they  got 
back  to  the  village  Harry  said  he  was  so  hungry  that  he 


254  ^^    WILD    AFRICA. 

could  have  eaten  the  hind  leg  of  a  lion,  to  which  Ned 
remarked  that  he  thought  it  would  take  two  hind  legs  of  an 
ordinary  lion  to  satisfy  his  own  appetite.  They  had  brought 
some  provisions  with  them  from  Kukawa,  to  which  was 
added  a  huge  dish  of  kouskousou,  which  the  natives  had 
prepared  in  their  absence,  together  with  a  lamb  roasted  on 
hot  ashes.  The  boys  made  quite  an  inroad  upon  both  of 
these  articles,  and  what  they  left  was  speedily  disposed  of 
by  the  rest  of  the  party. 

By  the  time  they  ended  their  meal  the  sun  had  passed 
over  the  meridian,  and  the  boys  concluded  that  it  was 
altogether  too  late  and  they  were  too  weary  to  return  that 
afternoon  to  Kukawa.  They  decided  to  rest  for  a  couple 
of  hours,  and  then  try  their  skill  at  hunting  the  gazelles 
which  abound  in  the  open  country  around  Lake  Chad. 

They  carried  out  their  plan,  and  were  successful,  both 
of  them  bringing  down  a  gazelle  at  the  first  shot.  It 
required  considerable  patience  to  accomplish  their  purpose, 
as  they  had  to  "  stalk"  their  game,  there  being  no  cover 
by  which  they  could  get  within  range  of  these  watchful 
creatures.  They  crept  along  the  ground,  taking  advan- 
tage of  every  bush,  bunch  of  grass,  or  any  other  inequality 
of  the  earth's  surface,  in  this  way  getting  within  shooting 
distance  without  being  discovered.  The  grass  was  full  of 
mosquitoes,  and  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  habits  of 
these  annoying  insects  can  readily  understand  that  they 
relieved  considerably  the  monotony  of  the  hunt. 

The  gazelles  which  the  youths  secured  were  given  to 
the  natives  of  the  village,  and  they  immediately  proceeded 
to  have  a  feast ;  the  meat  was  cooked  after  African  fash- 


ELEPHANTS    IN    BORNOO.  2<,<, 

ion, — that  is,  it  was  roasted  in  hot   ashes  in  the  manner 
already  described. 

The  next  day  the  party  returned  to  Kukawa,  where  they 
arrived  in  safety.  In  spite  of  their  failure  to  capture  any 
elephants,  the  youths  had  greatly  enjoyed  the  excursion 
and  were  very  glad  they  made  it.  Ned  said  they  could 
console  themselves  for  their  failure  by  remembering  that 
they  hadn't  lost  any  elephants,  and  therefore  had  no  real 
occasion  for  finding  any.  Harry  remarked  that  as  fables 
were  in  order  they  might  bear  in  mind  the  old  one  of  tlie 
fox  and  the  grapes,  where  the  fox,  after  vainly  endeavor- 
ing to  get  at  the  fruit,  denounced  it  as  too  sour  for  the 
vulpine  taste. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LEAVING    KUKAWA.  —  KILLING    A    BIG    SNAKE. 

IN  due  course  of  time  the  caravan  was  ready  for  its 
departure  from  Kukawa.  Dr.  Whitney  and  his 
nephews  paid  a  farewell  visit  to  the  sheikh,  being  careful 
to  take  with  them  the  customary  presents  which  he  would 
expect  in  return  for  his  civility.  He  volunteered  to  give 
them  letters  to  the  governor  of  Kano  and  the  king  of 
Sokoto,  with  whom  he  was  then  on  friendly  terms,  a 
favor  for  which  the  doctor  was  very  grateful.  The 
sheikh  ascertained  from  Dr.  Whitney  that  he  intended 
to  start  shortly  after  sunrise  on  the  following  morning. 

Just  as  the  caravan  was  getting  in  motion  the  sheikh 
made  his  appearance,  mounted  upon  horseback  and 
accompanied  by  his  vizier  and  all  the  rest  of  his  retinue. 
The  sheikh  and  his  followers  accompanied  the  caravan 
for  about  two  miles  on  its  way,  and  then  turned  back  to 
the  town.  Hearty  good  wishes  were  exchanged  between 
the  travelers  and  their  late  host,  the  sheikh  saying  that  he 
believed  the  party  would  encounter  no  trouble  in  entering 
Sokoto,  and  ultimately  reaching  Timbuctoo. 

The  general  course  of  travel  was  to  the  westward,  but  the 
route  meandered  considerably,  owing  to  the  location  of  the 
best  places  for  obtaining  water  and  good  grass,  and  also 
owing  to  the  configuration  of  the  country.       As  our  friends 

256 


LEAVING    KUKAWA.  257 

left  the  basin  of  the  Chad  they  found  the  air  cooler  and  more 
bracing  than  it  was  in  the  valley.  There  were  stretches 
of  desert  here  and  there,  but  on  the  whole  the  country 
was  fertile,  and  they  were  surprised  to  find  as  much  as 
they  did  under  cultivation.  Native  villages  were  quite 
numerous,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  every  village  there 
were  gardens  where  beans,  cabbages,  onions,  and  other 
kinds  of  vegetables  grew,  and  there  were  fields  of  wheat, 
corn,  and  millet.  Considering  the  few  needs  of  the  people 
of  this  part  of  Africa,  they  were  certainly  quite  industri- 
ous, and  their  appearance  indicated  that  they  had  no  lack 
of  food.  Ned  remarked  that  there  was  no  occasion  for 
them  to  perform  any  hard  work,  where  nature  was  so 
kind  to  them  and  civilization  had  not  penetrated  and 
developed  wants  that  they  had  not  known  before. 

All  the  natives  that  our  friends  saw,  with  the  exception 
of  those  living  in  the  town,  were  very  scantily  clad,  and 
Harry  estimated  that  two  dollars  a  year  was  sufficient  for  a 
man's  clothing,  while  the  cost  of  a  house  w^hich  a  native 
would  consider  good  ought  not  to  exceed  ten  dollars. 
Ground  nuts  for  food  could  be  had  in  most  places  for  the 
digging  of  them,  and  the  diet  might  be  varied  by  the  fruit 
of  the  palm  and  other  trees.  By  working  one  month  out 
of  the  twelve  a  man  could  take  good  care  of  his  family  and 
provide  for  all  their  wants,  and  it  showed  a  decided  incli- 
nation to  industry  for  a  man  to  consent  to  work  two  or 
more  months  in  the  year. 

"That's  quite  true,"  said  Dr.  Whitney  in  reply  to 
Ned's  observation,  "and  it  is  an  open  question  whether 
civilization  is  of  any  benefit  to  these  people.     With  it  come 


258  IN   WILD    AFRICA. 

new  wants  that  require  greater  industry,  and  with  civihza- 
tion  they  are  sure  to  take  on  new  vices.  Rum,  the  great 
curse  of  the  world,  is  certain  to  be  one  of  the  first  imports 
to  a  newly  opened  country,  and  it  brings  all  kinds  of 
demoralization.  It  forms  a  considerable,  and  sometimes 
the  larger  part  of  the  cargo  of  every  ship  trading  to  the 
African  coast,  and  is  almost  the  only  article  which  is  con- 
stantly in  demand,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  capable  of  more 
rapid  consumption  than  anything  else  in  the  whole  list  of 
trade  goods. 

'*  African  chiefs  and  people  get  to  warring  with  one 
another  in  consequence  of  rum,"  continued  the  doctor, 
"  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Africans  have  been  sold 
into  slavery  on  its  account.  I  could  deliver  you  a  long 
lecture  on  this  subject,  but  will  refrain,  closing,  as  I  began, 
by  saying  that  it  is  an  open  question  whether  these  black 
people  are  benefited  by  civilization.  When  the  slave  trade 
was  respectable,  two  hundred  years  ago,  British  noblemen 
and  other  sovereigns  were  stockholders  in  it.  They 
claimed  to  be  interested  in  it  as  a  philanthropic  movement, 
their  aim  being  to  put  the  African  pagans  in  the  way  of 
becoming  Christians.  No  doubt  the  establishment  of  mis- 
sions in  Africa  has  been  a  benefit  to  the  natives,  and  if 
the  people  could  have  the  missions  and  missionaries  with- 
out the  baneful  effects  of  commerce  there  is  no  doubt  that 
civilization  would  prove  a  blessing.  But  when  we  strike 
a  balance  sheet,  I'm  very  much  afraid  that  the  good  is 
fully  offset  by  the  evil." 

Ned  remarked  that  he  thought  civilization  would  prove 
a  boon  to  the  people  of  Africa  by  bringing  about  the  sup- 


LEAVING    KUKAWA.  259 

pression  of  the  slave  trade.     On  that  subject  Dr.  Whitney 
answered  as  follows  :  — 

"  There  can  hardly  be  two  opinions  on  this  subject;  the 
foreign  slave  trade  has  been  entirely  broken  up ;  that  is, 
the  carrying  of  negroes  as  slaves  to  America,  and  other 
distant  parts  of  the  world.  There  remains  the  local  trade 
which  we  see  here  now,  in  which  the  negroes  are  taken 
from  their  native  lands  and  carried  to  Morocco,  Tripoli, 
Egypt,  Arabia,  and  other  countries  under  Mohammedan 
control.  Slavery  is  permitted  by  the  Koran,  the  Bible  of 
the  Moslems,  and,  therefore,  it  is  impossible  for  any 
Moslem  ruler  to  abolish  it  entirely  without  risking  a  revolt 
among  his  people,  but  the  majority  of  the  Moslem  rulers, 
through  the  influence  of  England,  France,  and  other 
European  countries,  have  greatly  curtailed  it  and  reduced 
it  to  a  very  mild  condition. 

"In  most  of  these  countries  a  man  is  obliged  to  treat 
his  slaves  so  well  that  they  will  not  run  aw^ay,  as  he 
cannot  make  use  of  the  officers  of  the  law  to  capture  them 
in  case  they  leave  him.  Some  Moslem  countries  limit  the 
number  of  slaves  to  be  brought  there  in  a  year,  and  the 
number  is  kept  so  low  as  to  threaten  the  extinction  of  the 
institution  in  the  course  of  time.  The  Arabs  are  the  prin- 
cipal slave  dealers,  and  they  complain  that  their  business 
is  greatly  reduced  by  foreign  interference.  Still,  a  good 
many  caravans  of  slaves  are  constantly  moving  from  the 
interior  to  the  coast,  and,  although  the  raids  and  hunts  for 
slaves  are  quite  frequent,  they  are  less  so  than  formerly. 
English  influence  has  been  exercised  everywhere  that  it 
can  be  for  the  destruction  of  this  dreadful  commerce,  and, 


26o  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

as  England's  power  is  constantly  increasing  in  Africa,  the 
day  is  probably  not  very  far  distant  when  the  traffic  in 
human  flesh  will  practically  come  to  an  end." 

'*A11  civilized  nations,  whatever  their  feelings  toward 
England,"  said  Harry,  "  ought  to  assist  in  this  work." 

"So  they  do,"  replied  the  doctor;  *' with  the  single 
exception  of  Portugal,  and  even  that  country,  while  it 
takes  no  steps  to  suppress  the  trade,  does  not  defend  it. 
It  permits  its  traders  to  do  what  they  please  in  Africa, 
or  any  other  savage  countr}^,  and  if  they  chance  to  deal  in 
slaves  the  rovernment  doesn't  interfere  with  them.  Neither 
does  it  defend  them  when  they  get  into  difficulties  with 
the  warships  and  the  officials,  generally,  of  other  coun- 
tries, in  consequence  of  their  trading  in  slaves.  In  South 
Africa,  the  Dutchmen  who  have  settled  there  have  a  slave 
system  of  their  own,  as  they  have  taken  into  captivity  the 
Kaffirs  and  other  natives  of  that  country.  This  is  the 
reason,  so  it  is  claimed,  why  the  English  have  endeavored 
to  subjugate  the  Dutch  colonies  and  bring  them  under 
British  rule,  not  so  much  through  a  spirit  of  aggression  as 
through  the  desire  to  make  an  end  of  slavery." 

There  was  some  further  talk  on  the  subject,  which  was 
suddenly  dropped  in  consequence  of  an  excitement  among 
the  people  at  the  head  of  the  caravan.  Our  friends  rode 
forward  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  trouble  and  found 
that  a  large  snake  was  sunning  himself  right  in  the  road 
where  the  caravan  had  to  pass,  and  showed  no  immediate 
intention  of  getting  out  of  the  way.  It  is  proper  to  add, 
however,  that  the  reptile  had  not  been  disturbed,  as  no 
one  ventured  to  go  near  him. 


LEAVING    KUKA^VA.  26 1 

The  snake  was  partly  coiled  and  pardy  uncoiled,  —  diat 
is,  die  pordon  of  his  body  next  to  his  head  formed  a  single 
coil,  while  the  other  half  of  his  body  was  stretched  out 
on  the  sand.  Dr.  Whitney  dismounted  and  gave  his 
bridle  to  one  of  the  attendants  ;  then  he  advanced  with 
Renaud  to  within  about  fifty  yards  of  the  snake,  closely 
followed  by  Ned  and  Harry,  who  had  also  dismounted. 
Each  of  the  three  carried  a  rifle,  and  at  the  distance 
mentioned  they  all  halted ;  then,  at  Dr.  Whitney's 
suggestion,  Renaud  stamped  on  the  ground,  and  at  the 
same  time  threw  a  small  stone  which  struck  the  snake's 
body. 

The  serpent  raised  its  head  to  see  what  all  the  noise 
was  about ;  as  he  did  so  the  doctor  sent  a  bullet  through 
it,  and  this  bullet  (a  solid  one)  was  immediately  followed 
by  an  explosive  bullet  from  Ned's  rille,  and  another  from 
Harry's.  The  three  shots  were  well  aimed,  all  hitting 
their  mark,  and  at  the  end  of  the  rifle  practice  the  snake 
did  not  have  much  head  left  upon  him.  He  writhed 
and  twisted  at  a  frightful  rate,  and  for  some  time 
no  one  dared  to  approach  him  for  fear  of  being  caught  in 
his  coils.  In  his  writhinor  and  t\vistin<x  he  worked  himself 
down  the  side  of  the  slope  at  one  side  of  the  road,  and 
thus  gave  the  caravan  an  opportunity  to  proceed  on  its 
journey. 

Our  friends  stayed  behind  with  their  horses  and  one  of 
their  mounted  attendants  in  the  hope  of  getting  an  oppor- 
tunity of  measuring  the  length  of  their  prize,  but  all  in 
vain.  They  estimated  that  he  was  about  fifteen  feet  long 
and  six  inches  in  diameter  at  the  thickest  part  of  his  body. 


262  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

lie  belonged  to  the  python,  or  constrictor  family,  and  was 
certainly  a  very  disagreeable  antagonist  to  encounter. 

While  they  were  looking  at  the  creature  and  estimating 
his  dimensions  several  negroes  from  a  neighboring  vil- 
lage made  their  appearance,  and  manifested  great  delight 
at  the  slaughter  of  the  serpent.  As  nearly  as  our  friends 
could  make  out,  the  natives  said  that  he  had  haunted  the 
neighborhood  for  some  time  and  destroyed  several  of  their 
lambs  and  young  goats.  On  this  account  they  were  glad 
that  he  had  been  killed,  and  were  furthermore  delighted 
when  Dr.  Whitney  intimated  by  signs  that  they  might 
take  the  snake  and  do  whatever  they  pleased  with  him. 
One  of  the  men  had  some  ten  or  fifteen  feet  of  cord  around 
his  waist.  He  removed  this  cord,  made  a  noose  on  the 
end  of  it,  and  by  using  a  forked  stick  inside  this  noose  he 
managed  to  get  it  around  the  creature's  neck.  Having 
secured  the  snake  in  this  way,  they  dragged  him  off  to 
their  village,  in  spite  of  his  continuous  writhing. 

As  our  friends  mounted  and  rode  away  to  overtake  the 
caravan,  Ned  asked  the  doctor  what  the  negroes  would  do 
with  the  snake. 

*'  Oh,  they'll  take  off  his  skin,"  said  the  doctor,  **  and 
then  they'll  cut  him  up  and  eat  him." 

"  Do  they  really  eat  those  horrid  things?  "  queried  Ned. 

**  As  to  the  people  here  I  can't  say  positively,  but  in 
most  parts  of  Africa  the  natives  consider  them  all  right, 
and  I  assume  that  when  those  negroes  took  that  snake 
away  they  had  an  object  in  so  doing  ;  if  they  only  wanted 
the  skin  they  could  have  removed  it  here." 

*' That's  so,"  said  Ned;   **  they  could  have  skinned  the 


LEAVING    KUKAWA.  263 

snake  on  the  spot  and  made  an  end  of  the  job,  unless  they 
wanted  the  rest  of  him  for  something  ;  but,  come  to  think  of 
it,  if  one  could  set  aside  his  prejudice  against  serpents  he 
ought  to  find  them  very  good  eating.  They  are  very  clean 
feeders,  killing  their  own  game,  and  eating  it  on  the  spot. 
They  never  touch  anything  in  the  least  degree  tainted ;  in 
fact,  there  isn't  a  cleaner  feeder  anvwhere  than  the  snakes 
of  the  constrictor  species,  and,  in  fact,  the  great  majority 
of  snakes." 

"  Qiiite  true,"  chimed  in  Harry,  "but,  for  all  that,  I 
prefer  mutton  chops  and  beefsteaks  to  boa  constrictors." 

"  Did  you  ever  see  the  flesh  of  a  rattlesnake  or  of  the 
American  black  snake  after  the  skin  was  removed?" 
queried  the  doctor. 

Both  the  boys  gave  a  negative  answer. 

"  Well,"  said  the  doctor,  "the  flesh  looks  wonderfully 
like  chicken,  and  so  far  as  its  appearance  goes  it  is  just  as 
delicate  ;  those  who  have  been  able  to  conquer  their  prej- 
udice say  that  it  tastes  wonderfully  like  that  bird." 

"  I've  not  the  least  doubt  of  it,"  said  Harry,  "  and  I've 
heard  that  in  some  countries  snakes  are  a  delicacy,  and 
make  the  choicest  dishes  that  can  be  offered  to  the 
stranger." 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Ned,  "  if  they  always  tell  the  stranger 
what  they're  giving  him  when  they  offer  him  a  dish  of 
snake." 

Harry  was  unable  to  settle  this  question,  and  after  some 
further  talk  on  the  power  of  prejudice  the  subject  was 
dropped,  and  the  thoughts  of  the  travelers  were  turned  in 
another   direction  by   meeting  a  caravan    on   its    way   to 


264  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Kukawa.  It  was  a  motley  collection,  as  the  caravan  was 
made  up  of  camels,  pack-oxen,  donkeys,  horses,  and 
slaves,  together  with  camel  drivers,  horsemen,  and  people 
of  several  sorts  on  foot.  There  were  about  thirty  camels, 
forty  or  fifty  pack-oxen,  twenty  men  on  horses,  and  about 
as  many  donkeys ;  the  biped  part  of  the  caravan  was 
about  as  varied  as  the  quadrupedal  portion,  there  being 
two  or  three  kinds  of  negroes,  and  as  many  varieties  of 
Arabs.  Ned  said  he  shouldn't  wonder  if  there  were  some 
galvanized  Arabs  like  themselves, — that  is,  Europeans  in 
native  dress,  and  with  their  hands  and  faces  stained  with 
indigo. 

The  chief  camel  drivers  of  the  two  parties  held  a  short 
conference,  and  then  each  caravan  moved  on  its  way. 
Luckily,  the  path  was  wide  enough  at  that  point  to  enable 
them  both  to  proceed  at  the  same  time  without  collision, 
which  is  not  by  any  means  always  the  case  in  African 
travel.  An  African  roadway  is  usually  about  three  feet 
wide,  at  least,  the  trodden  portion  is,  and  if  the  country  is 
not  encumbered  with  forest  or  brushwood  it  can  be  as 
wide  as  one  desires.  Camel  caravans  avoid  wooded 
ground  as  much  as  possible,  as  it  is  often  necessary  to  cut 
away  the  growth  that  would  be  likely  to  impede  the  prog- 
ress of  the  camels.  There  is  no  government  force  to 
keep  the  routes  in  traveling  condition,  and  especially  in 
the  matter  of  cutting  a  way  through  a  forest,  where  con- 
stant supervision  is  required.  Tropical  growth  is  so  rapid 
and  vegetation  pushes  with  such  celerity  that  the  foliage 
needs  almost  daily  attention  to  prevent  its  overrunning  the 
roadway. 


LEAVING    KUKAWA.  265 

In  the  journey  of  our  friends  westward  it  was  necessary 
to  have  a  local  guide  for  every  day,  and  sometimes  twice 
in  a  day.  There  were  so  many  paths  crossing  and  recross- 
ing,  and  running  in  all  directions,  that  only  a  person  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  them  could  find  his  way.  There 
were  no  maps  of  the  country,  and  the  great  majority  of 
the  natives  had  no  intimate  knowledge  of  it  further  than  a 
few  miles  from  their  homes.  The  numerous  caravans  that 
pass  through  the  land  have  built  up  a  business  for  the 
local  guides.  These  men  have  the  good  sense  to  divide 
the  country  off  into  districts,  and  whenever  the  edge  of 
one  district  is  reached  there  is  a  guide  at  hand  who  will 
undertake  to  show  the  way  to  the  next  station.  Usually 
the  guides  began  their  service  in  the  morning  and  ended 
it  at  night.  As  before  stated,  two  guides  were  sometimes 
employed  in  one  day.  Our  friends  suspected  that  this 
was  a  trick  on  the  part  of  the  guides,  and  not  at  all  neces- 
sary, as  the  price  paid  for  one's  services  was  the  same  for 
six  hours  as  for  a  whole  day,  but  inasmuch  as  it  only 
required  a  few  cents'  worth  of  goods  to  compensate  one  of 
these  men  they  did  not  complain.  Ned  remarked  that 
there  was  a  further  reason  for  accepting  the  situation  as 
they  found  it,  and  that  was  because  complaints  would  do 
no  good. 

On  the  tenth  day  after  leaving  Kukawa  the  caravan 
approached  a  swampy  region  in  which  were  many  patches 
of  forest ;  some  of  the  wooded  country  was  densely  and 
some  of  it  lightly  covered,  and  the  caravan  made  slow 
progress,  owing  to  the  wide  detours  it  was  obliged  to  make 
to  keep  as  much  as  possible  in  the  open  country.      In  the 


266  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

rainy  season  a  great  part  of  this  land  is  flooded,  and  looks 
like  a  vast  lake  dotted  with  islands.  At  the  time  our 
friends  visited  it  the  land  was  mostly  dry  and  thickly 
covered  with  grass,  the  swamps  occupying  only  the  lowest 
portions.  There  was  no  danger  of  suffering  from  lack  of 
food,  as  there  were  many  fields  of  corn,  and  guinea  fowls 
were  so  numerous  that  one  could  hardly  walk  a  step  with- 
out disturbing  a  flock  of  them,  and  so  fearless  that  they 
could  be  knocked  down  with  sticks,  thus  rendering  shoot- 
ing unnecessary. 

Our  friends  pronounced  these  guinea  fowls  delicious, 
and  said  that  they  greatly  softened  the  asperity  of  the 
journey  through  Africa.  Ned  wished  that  these  birds 
could  be  stretched  in  a  line  all  along  their  route  of  travel, 
and  he  was  sure  that  there  were  enough  to  form  the  line 
without  difficulty. 

In  addition  to  guinea  fowls,  there  are  two  or  three  kinds 
of  water  fowls,  partridges,  and  several  species  of  antelopes, 
while  wild  hogs,  elephants,  and  monkeys  were  in  abun- 
dance. They  saw  traces  of  elephants,  but  did  not  see  the 
animals  themselves,  though  they  saw  quite  a  lot  of  mon- 
keys, singly,  and  in  groups.  One  group  was  quite  tame 
and  played  along  the  roadside  about  fifty  yards  or  so  from 
the  travelers,  affording  the  latter  considerable  amusement, 
and  no  doubt  some  to  themselves.  They  chased  each 
other  up  and  down  trees  or  along  the  ground,  indulged  in 
mimic  fights,  and  in  other  ways  disported  themselves  in 
simian  fashion. 

All  the  quadrupeds  of  the  caravan  had  reason  to  enjoy 
this  part  of  the  journey,  as  food  was  abundant,  there  was 


LEAVING    KUKAWA.  267 

no  lack  of  water,  and  the  marches  were  not  lonor.  When 
the  party  was  going  into  camp  on  the  first  day  after  enter- 
ing this  region,  Ned  and  Harry  took  a  stroll  towards  a 
cluster  of  tall  trees  at  the  side  of  a  little  lake.  They  had 
reached  the  edge  of  the  cluster,  and  were  just  entering 
among  the  trees  when  a  lion  rose  with  a  loud  roar  only  a 
few  3^ards  in  front  of  them,  and  bounded  away  as  fast  as 
he  could  go.  The  youths  were  unarmed,  except  with  shot- 
guns, but  even  had  they  carried  their  rifles  with  them  it 
would  have  been  necessary  to  handle  them  very  quickly, 
and  the  bullet  must  needs  be  a  rapid  one  to  have  any 
prospects  of  hitting  the  lion.  In  a  very  short  time  he  dis- 
appeared in  another  patch  of  forest,  but  whether  he  stayed 
there  or  kept  on  until  he  was  far  in  the  region  of  safety 
our  friends  were  unable  to  say. 

"  That  probably  clears  out  this  little  patch  of  woodland," 
said  Ned,  as  the  lion  disappeared.  '*We  ought  to  be 
able  to  walk  around  safely  now." 

Hardly  had  he  spoken  when  there  was  another  commo- 
tion in  the  underbrush,  and  another  tawny  figure  bounded 
into  sight  and  away.  The  boys  had  observed  that  the  first 
animal  which  departed  wore  a  huge  and  shaggy  mane, 
and  the  second  had  none,  so  they  concluded  that  the  pair 
of  animals  were  lion  and  lioness,  and  Harry  suggested 
that  they  might  find  the  den  of  the  animals,  and  possibly 
some  lion  cubs  there. 

'^I  hardly  think  so,"  said  Ned,  "for  two  reasons;  I 
don't  think  that  either  of  these  animals  would  go  away 
and  leave  their  helpless  young  ones  to  themselves.  It 
isn't  in  the  nature  of  the  lion  any  more  than  of  most  other 


268  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

beasts  to  desert  their  young  in  this  way  ;  and,  furthermore, 
I  think  I've  read  in  a  book  of  natural  history  that  a  pair 
of  lions  live  and  hunt  together  until  the  cubs  are  born, 
when  the  lion  leaves  the  lioness  to  take  care  of  herself  and 
her  children,  and  goes  off  hunting  on  his  own  account. 
You  see  they  both  ran  away  before  we  attacked  them  ;  they 
only  came  into  this  bit  of  forest  and  that  is  all.  I  don't 
believe  that  we'll  find  any  cubs,  but  we'll  look,  anyway." 

"If  we  find  them,"  said  Harry,  **what'll  we  do  with 
them  ?  " 

*' That's  the  question,  sure  enough,"  said  Ned;  ^'I'm 
sure  we  don't  want  any  cub  lions  in  our  baggage,  but  we'll 
take  them  along  to  the  next  town  and  give  them  to  the 
sheikh ;  he'll  be  glad  to  have  them." 

*' Never  mind,"  was  the  reply.  *'We  won't  trouble 
ourselves  about  disposing  of  them  until  we  find  them ; 
remember  the  old  adage  about  '  counting  one's  chickens 
before  they're  hatched.' " 

Conversation  ended  at  this  point,  and  the  youths  began 
to  search  the  ground  carefully.  They  could  not  find  any 
lion's  den,  or  any  place  that  would  serve  the  purpose  of 
one ;  furthermore,  they  did  not  find  any  cubs,  and  there- 
fore had  no  further  perplexity  as  to  how  they  would  dis- 
pose of  them.  Harry  proposed  to  continue  their  walk  to 
the  patch  of  forest  where  the  lions  disappeared,  but  this 
was  opposed  by  Ned  on  the  ground  that  they  had  no 
weapons  with  which  to  meet  the  monarch  of  the  forest,  and 
it  would  be  more , prudent  to  stroll  in  another  direction. 
The  result  was  that  before  very  long  they  were  back 
again  in  camp. 


LEAVING    KUKAWA.  269 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day  the  caravan  reached 
the  bank  of  the  river  Gonduku.  It  was  not  far  from  three 
hundred  yards  wide,  and  flowing  with  a  current  of  about 
three  miles  an  hour.  Its  depth  varied  a  good  deal,  being 
in  some  places  quite  shallow,  and  in  others  ten  or  twelve 
feet  from  surface  to  bottom.  The  crossing  of  this  river 
by  an  entire  caravan  could  not  be  accomplished  in  an 
afternoon,  and  therefore  the  expedition  went  into  camp 
on  the  spot. 

"We  were  greatly  amused,"  said  Ned  in  his  journal, 
''  at  the  way  the  natives  crossed  the  river.  As  soon  as  it 
was  decided  to  form  camp  Harry  and  I  went  down  to  the 
bank  of  the  stream  to  have  a  look  at  it.  We  noticed  at 
the  edge  of  the  river  some  logs  from  eight  inches  to  a  foot 
in  diameter,  and  six  or  eight  feet  long,  some  on  one  side 
of  the  stream,  and  some  on  the  other.  There  were  also 
some  large  calabashes  or  gourds  lying  among  the  logs, 
and  we  wondered  what  they  were  there  for.  We  had  not 
long  to  wait  to  find  out.  We  hadn't  been  seated  more 
than  ten  minutes  before  a  man  and  a  woman  came  along, 
and,  without  noticing  our  presence  or  saying  anything, 
began  to  utilize  the  articles  we  had  been  studying. 

*'They  removed  what  little  clothing  they  had,  made  it 
into  bundles,  and  placed  them  on  the  tops  of  their  heads. 
Then  the  man  took  one  of  the  logs,  rolled  it  into  the  water, 
jumped  astride  of  it,  and  with  hands  and  feet  paddled  it 
across  the  river.  The  woman  at  the  same  time  mounted 
astride  of  one  of  the  large,  double  calabashes,  and  it 
served  her  the  same  purpose  that  the  log  served  for  the 
man.     They  left  the  log  and  calabash  among  those  on  the 


270  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

other  side  of  the  river,  adjusted  their  clothing,  and  went 
away.  We  learned  upon  inquiry  that  these  were  the  com- 
mon ferry  boats  of  the  region;  they  were  the  property  of 
anybody  who  chose  to  use  them,  and  I  suppose  that  by  a 
careful  calculation  there  were  always  enough  on  either 
side  of  the  river  to  accommodate  all  those  who  would  b^ 
likely  to  use  them. 

''We  saw  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon  a  dozen  of 
more  people  crossing  the  river  in  this  way,  and  the} 
showed  great  dexterity  in  maintaining  their  positions 
astride  of  the  logs  and  calabashes.  In  one  instance,  a  man 
led  a  donkey  across ;  he  had  a  halter  about  three  yards 
long,  and  it  required  all  his  efforts,  combined  with  those 
of  a  man  who  accompanied  him,  to  get  the  obstinate  beast 
into  the  river.  After  he  was  afloat  the  donkey  went  along 
fairly  well  until  he  reached  the  middle  of  the  stream,  when 
he  suddenly  refused  to  swim  further,  and  manifested  a 
desire  to  go  back  to  where  he  started.  The  result  was  he 
pulled  the  swimmer  off  the  log,  and  the  latter  had  all  he 
wanted  to  do  to  keep  hold  of  the  halter  with  one  hand 
and  of  the  log  with  the  other.  He  did  so,  however,  and 
managed  to  get  astride  of  the  log  again,  but  the  two  of 
them  came  to  land  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below  the 
point  whence  they  started. 

"We  borrowed  some  of  these  logs,  and  gathered  others 
with  which  to  make  a  raft  to  ferry  our  baggage  across. 
It  required  very  nearly  the  whole  day  for  transporting 
our  goods  from  one  bank  of  the  river  to  the  other,  but  we 
finally  got  everything  over  in  safety.  At  every  trip  we 
led  across  two  of  our  animals,  and  on  some  occasions  three 


LEAVING    KUKAWA.  27 1 

or  four,  compelling  them  to  swim  where  the  water  was 
deep.  The  camels  were  more  obstinate  than  the  mules  or 
donkeys  ;  the  camel  is  essentially  designed  for  dry  places 
and  not  for  wet  ones,  and  a  cat  is  no  more  reluctant  to 
enter  the  water  than  is  this  tall  and  ungainly  beast.  The 
camel  drivers  did  a  good  deal  of  cudgeling,  and  used  a 
great  deal  of  loud  language  in  getting  the  camels  across. 
I  supposed  from  the  sound  of  them  that  some  of  their  re- 
marks were  very  naughty,  but,  as  they  were  in  a  language 
which  none  of  us  could  understand,  we  were  not  at  all 
shocked  by  the  performance. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

A    TOWN    IN    MOTION STORY    FROM    THE    NIGER. 

AFTER  the  caravan  had  crossed  the  river,  another  day 
w^as  consumed  in  arranging  everything,  as  the  bag- 
gage, during  the  transit  of  the  stream,  had  become  very 
much  mixed  up.  There  was  a  disturbance  in  camp  that 
night,  caused  by  hons  prowhng  in  the  vicinity.  Several 
of  the  horses  broke  their  halters,  and  the  rest  tried  very 
hard  to  do  the  same  ;  fortunately,  those  that  managed  to 
free  themselves  were  so  frightened  that  they  refused  to 
leave  their  companions  and  so  remained  within  the  camp. 
If  they  had  been  less  alarmed  than  they  were,  it  is  prob- 
able that  they  would  have  run  away. 

The  whole  camp  was  aroused,  and  our  friends  came  out 
with  their  rifles,  with  the  hope  of  being  able  to  lay  their 
disturbers  low,  but  the  night  was  so  dark  that  it  was 
impossible  to  see  anything  more  than  a  few  yards  away. 
The  chief  camel  driver  thought  that  if  the  doctor  and  the 
youths  would  go  outside  the  camp  and  hunt  around  they 
mio-ht  be  able  to  find  the  lions,  but,  as  far  as  could  be 
observed,  the  trio  did  not  show  an  inclination  to  go  out 
upon  that  hunt.  The  doctor  suggested  that  the  camel 
driver  accompany  them  and  show  the  way ;  whereupon 
that  individual  discovered  an  imperative  necessity  for  his 
remaining  with  his  animals. 

272 


A    TOWN    IN    MOTION.  273 

In  the  hope  of  scaring  away  whatever  carniverous 
beasts  might  be  in  the  neighborhood,  our  friends  fired  sev- 
eral shots  in  the  air,  which  evidently  had  the  desired  effect, 
as  the  horses  and  camels  became  quiet  after  awhile,  and  our 
friends  went  back  to  their  tent  and  to  bed  again.  Soon 
after  sunrise  in  the  morning  the  caravan  was  under  way, 
and  the  river  was  left  behind. 

About  the  middle  of  the  forenoon  the  party  met  the 
most  picturesque  caravan  they  had  yet  seen  on  the  road. 
We  will  turn  to  Ned's  journal  for  a  description  of  it :  — 

**I  couldn't  find  out,"  said  Ned,  "exactly  what  it  all 
meant,  but  it  seemed  like  a  village  or  town  on  the  move. 
Altogether  there  must  have  been  two  hundred  camels,  and 
more  than  that  number  of  horses,  donkeys,  and  pack-oxen. 
As  for  the  people,  I  don't  believe  there  were  fewer  than 
seven  or  eight  hundred,  and  they  were  of  all  ages,  classes, 
and  I  could  almost  say  colors ;  certainly  there  were  two  or 
three  shades  of  black  on  their  faces,  and  as  many  shades 
of  red,  none  of  them  being  at  all  light.  The  men  were 
mostly  mounted  on  horses  or  camels,  and  the  women  and 
children  either  rode  on  donkeys  or  oxen  or  walked  by 
their  sides. 

"  Nearly  every  beast  of  burden  in  the  caravan  carried 
something  in  addition  to  his  rider  or  riders,  and  their  bur- 
dens were  mostly  household  goods  and  provisions,  the 
balance  consisting  of  merchandise,  which  was  probably 
cheaper  at  their  starting  point  than  at  their  destination, 
and  was  intended  for  sale  at  a  profit.  The  chief  of  the 
party  was  a  venerable  old  man,  and  he  led  the  way,  walk- 
ing like  a  young  man  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  and  in 


274  ^^    WILD    AFRICA. 

front  of  his  camel,  which  he  held  by  the  nose-cord.  Many 
of  the  people  not  only  carried  household  goods,  but  the 
houses  themselves ;  perhaps  I  ought  to  explain  that  the 
houses  were  not  made  of  solid  walls  and  roofs,  but  were 
simply  grass  huts,  such  as  one  sees  all  through  Africa. 

**  We  turned  out  of  the  road  and  halted  while  this  motley 
procession  went  past  us.  First  there  was  a  string  of 
camels  led  by  the  chief,  as  already  stated ;  then  a  herd 
of  cattle,  probably  the  shiekh's  property ;  then  a  group  of 
men  on  horses,  closely  followed  by  some  women  and 
children  on  donkeys ;  then  more  camels,  more  donkeys, 
more  horses,  and  so  on  to  the  end.  There  were  flocks  of 
sheep  and  goats,  and  in  one  group  we  saw  about  twenty 
milch  goats,  unaccompanied  by  their  kids.  Colts  and 
young  camels  were  playing  about  in  different  parts  of  the 
caravan,  sometimes  getting  among  the  cattle  and  sheep, 
and  sometimes  becoming  mixed  up  with  the  laden  camels 
and  horses ;  altogether  it  was  a  strange  and  interesting 
sight.  Harry  thought  it  would  be  fun  to  go  back  and 
watch  these  people  crossing  the  river ;  I  thought  so,  too, 
but  we  did  not  suggest  it  to  the  doctor." 

The  day  after  meeting  the  strange-looking  caravan  our 
friends  found  themselves  in  a  region  where  elephants 
abounded,  and  several  times  they  came  across  the  tracks 
of  these  huge  beasts.  They  also  saw  the  track  of  a 
rhinoceros,  at  least,  the  Arabs  and  natives  said  that  it  was 
made  by  one  of  these  animals,  and  Renaud  remarked  that 
it  would  be  interesting  if  they  could  happen  upon  an 
elephant  and  rhinoceros  together. 

**  Why  so?  "  queried  Harry. 


A   TOWN    IN    MOTION.  275 

**  There  would  certainly  be  a  fight,"  said  Renaud ; 
**  and  a  fight  to  the  death.  All  over  Africa  the  elephant 
and  rhinoceros  have  a  mortal  hatred  of  each  other,  and 
whenever  two  of  them  meet  it  is  absolutely  certain  that 
there  will  be  a  battle  ending  in  the  death  of  one,  and  not 
infrequently  of  both." 

'*  Did  you  ever  see  a  fight  of  that  kind?  "  queried  Ned. 

*'I  never  saw  two  of  these  creatures  fighting,"  said 
Renaud;  "but  I  know  of  people  who  have  seen  them, 
and  I,  myself,  have  seen  a  rhinoceros  and  an  elephant 
lying  locked  together,  each  having  killed  the  other.  The 
elephant  uses  his  tusks,  plunging  them,  if  possible,  into 
the  sides  of  his  adversary,  at  the  same  time  giving  terrible 
blows  with  his  trunk.  The  fighting  weapon  of  the  rhi- 
noceros is  his  horn ;  a  very  solid  one,  which  is  strongly 
mounted  on  his  nose.  If  he  can  manage  to  insert  this 
horn  in  the  elephant's  belly  he  inflicts  an  enormous  wound 
which  is  nearly  always  fatal.  The  great  strength  of  both 
animals  is  brought  into  play,  and  so  fierce  are  they  in 
assaulting  one  another  that  the  battle  never  lasts  long ; 
they  tear  up  the  ground  and  push  down  trees  of  consider- 
able size  in  their  struggles,  and  as  the  fight  is  going  on 
they  give  vent  to  loud  trumpetings  and  bellowings,  so  that 
they  can  be  heard  for  a  long  distance.  It  is  said  —  but 
I  don't  know  how  truthful  it  is  —  that  lions,  panthers,  and 
other  animals  sometimes  come  to  look  on  at  this  battle, 
but  never  interfere." 

"  I  don't  suppose,"  said  Ned,  as  Renaud  paused,  "  that 
any  creature  with  the  least  particle  of  good  judgment 
about  him  would  interfere  in  such  a  matter.     If  he  did  he 


276  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

would  be  pretty  sure  to  get  the  worst  of  it,  as  he  would  run 
the  risk  of  being  crushed  to  death  between  the  two  oppo- 
nents. I  wonder  if  the  lion  and  the  elephant  are  friendly 
to  each  other?  " 

"  I  don't  think  they're  at  all  friendly  in  the  full  meaning 
of  that  word,"  said  Renaud ;  "but  they  are  not  such 
enemies  as  the  elephant  and  rhinoceros.  You  never 
heard  of  elephants  and  lions  being  together,  but  on  the 
other  hand  I  don't  think  I've  ever  heard  of  their  fighting  ; 
if  they  ever  get  into  a  quarrel  it  is  probably  through  an 
accident.  If  an  elephant,  walking  in  the  vicinity  of  a 
lion,  were  suddenly  struck  by  an  arrow  or  spear  from  the 
hands  of  a  native  concealed  in  the  top  of  a  tree,  the  great 
brute  might  think  that  it  was  thrown  by  the  lion.  If  that 
idea  entered  his  head  he  would  be  likely  to  charge  the 
blow  to  the  lion,  and  immediately  charge  upon  him  ;  but 
of  course  this  is  not  likely  to  be  a  frequent  occurrence. 
As  to  the  other  animals  of  the  forest,  they  don't  appear  to 
be  on  bad  terms  with  one  another.  Africa  is  very  large, 
and  there's  room  enough  in  it  for  all." 

One  day  our  friends  were  obliged  to  turn  aside  while  a 
large  caravan  laden  almost  entirely  with  salt  went  past 
them.  Salt  is  one  of  the  principal  commodities  of  African 
commerce  so  far  as  the  interior  is  concerned ;  it  is  found 
in  some  districts,  but  not  in  others,  and  there  is  a  con- 
stant movement  of  the  article  from  the  former  to  the 
latter.  Bornoo  has  a  very  scanty  supply  of  salt  within  its 
boundaries,  and  a  great  amount  of  this  article  is  brought 
from  Sokoto  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants.  Salt  is 
obtained   principally   from    salt    springs,    some    of    which 


A    TOWN    IN    MOTION.  277 

throw  off  a  quantity  of  water  of  almost  briny  strength. 
This  water  is  placed  in  large  troughs ;  the  heat  of  the  sun 
dries  away  the  liquid  and  leaves  the  salt  in  a  solid  mass. 
Just  as  the  brine  reaches  the  point  of  crystalization  it  is 
poured  into  moulds,  in  which  the  drying  is  completed;  the 
salt  thus  being  formed  into  cakes  of  suitable  size  for  hand- 
ling and  transporting. 

Caravans  going  from  Morocco  to  Timbuctoo  generally 
carry  cargoes  of  salt,  which  is  obtained  from  an  oasis 
where  there  are  extensive  salt  mines.  In  these  mines  the 
salt  is  found  in  layers  about  a  foot  thick  and  as  clear  as 
crystal.  The  layers  are  usually  separated  from  one  an- 
other and  cut  into  blocks  for  transportation.  These  blocks 
of  salt  are  exchanged  for  slaves  when  the  caravan  reaches 
Timbuctoo,  and  the  ordinary  price  of  a  slave  is  the  largest 
amount  of  salt  he  can  stand  upon  and  cover  with  his  feet. 
Ned  suggested,  when  he  heard  this,  that  it  was  probably 
on  account  of  this  mode  of  trading  that  the  negro  had 
large  feet,  and  he  asked  Renaud  if  that  view  of  the  matter 
was  correct.  Renaud  failed  to  see  the  point  of  the  joke, 
and  seriously  answered  that  when  the  merchants  of  Tim- 
buctoo were  trading  slaves  for  salt  they  selected  those 
whose  feet  were  the  loncrest  and  widest. 

The  travelers  crossed  the  boundarv  of  Sokoto,  and  in  a 
few  days  reached  the  city  of  Kano,  which  is  the  largest 
place  that  our  friends  had  yet  seen  in  the  interior  of 
Africa.  Its  population  is  variously  estimated  at  from 
thirty  to  forty  thousand.  The  doctor  had  sent  in  advance 
the  letter  which  he  received  from  the  sheikh  of  Kukawa, 
and  on  reaching  the  walls  of  the  city  he  found  an  officer 


278  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

of  the  governor's  staff  waiting  to  receive  him.  The  officer 
was  mounted  on  a  showy  horse  that  pranced  around  very 
proudly,  and  evidently  wanted  to  show  how  fast  he  could 
run.  As  for  the  officer,  he  was  less  attractive  than  the 
steed  he  bestrode  ;  his  dress  consisted  of  a  bournous,  with 
a  shirt  under  it,  and  a  somewhat  dilapidated  turban.  His 
weapon  of  authority,  as  well  as  of  defence  and  offence,  was 
a  sword,  which  he  carried  under  a  strap  over  his  saddle,  a 
way  in  which  the  sword  is  frequently  carried  in  this  part  of 
the  world  ;  his  features  showed  him  to  be  of  Arab  blood,  b\it 
his  skin  was  as  dark  as  that  of  the  negro,  or  very  nearly  so. 
The  officer  received  our  friends  with  a  great  deal  of 
dignity,  and  conducted  them  to  a  house  inside  the  walls. 
Their  baggage  and  merchandise  were  unloaded  from  the 
camels  and  placed  in  some  rooms  opening  upon  a  court- 
yard ;  then  the  camels  and  all  the  horses  not  needed  for 
immediate  use  were  sent  outside  the  city  to  a  grove  of 
palm  trees,  where  a  camp  was  formed  and  the  animals 
were  supplied  with  food.  There  was  no  good  grazing 
ground  within  several  miles  of  the  city,  and  quite  a  busi- 
ness was  carried  on  by  the  natives  in  supplying  grass  for 
the  camels,  horses,  and  other  herbivorous  animals ;  and 
the  tents  had  not  been  pitched  an  hour  before  Renaud  was 
importuned  by  several  applicants  for  the  contract  to  supply 
him  with  green  food.  He  made  what  he  considered  an 
advantageous  bargain,  but  found,  in  a  few  hours,  that  the 
enterprising  contractor  had  taken  advantage  of  his  igno- 
rance to  demand  and  receive  an  exorbitant  price.  So  he 
cancelled  the  engagement  at  once,  and  made  another  on 
far  more  favorable  terms. 


A    TOWN    IN    MOTION.  279 

Dr.  Whitney  avScertained  that  it  was  the  etiquette  of 
Kano  for  him  and  his  young  companions  to  remain  in 
their  quarters  until  that  high  dignitary,  the  governor, 
should  come  to  see  them.  Ned  and  Harry  were  somewhat 
cast  down  on  receiving  this  information,  as  they  were 
impatient  to  see  the  town.  Knowing  the  easy  ways  of 
Africans  and  their  disregard  for  time,  they  were  fearful 
of  being  compelled  to  remain  indoors  for  a  day  or  more 
before  the  governor  would  be  ready  to  receive  them. 

But  while  they  were  mourning  over  this  state  of  affairs 
a  messenger  came  to  announce  that  the  governor  was  on 
his  way  to  call  upon  them.  This  put  them  into  better 
humor,  and  also  into  better  clothes  ;  all  three  of  the  party 
hastily  arrayed  themselves  in  their  Arab  garments,  select- 
ing for  the  purpose  the  freshest  of  the  contents  of  their 
wardrobe,  and  when  the  governor  came  they  were  ready 
to  receive  him,  and  also  to  regale  him  upon  coffee,  which 
was  a  great  luxury  in  that  part  of  the  country.  They  had 
a  somewhat  tedious  conversation  with  the  governor,  owing 
to  the  repeated  translations  through  which  their  remarks 
were  carried. 

The  governor  welcomed  them  to  Kano,  and  said  that  if 
he  could  serve  them  in  any  way  he  would  be  pleased  to 
do  so.  He  remained  squatted  on  a  divan  at  one  side  of 
the  principal  room  for  nearly  half  an  hour,  and  then  took 
his  leave.  During  his  visit  our  friends  sat  cross-legged 
on  the  same  divan ;  they  had  practised  that  way  of  sitting 
for  so  long  a  time  that  they  were  now  quite  accustomed  to 
it,  but  it  w^as  very  far  from  being  agreeable  w^hen  they 
first  undertook  it. 


28o  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

t 

An  hour  after  the  governor's  departure  our  friends 
went  to  return  his  call ;  he  had  intimated  through  the 
interpreter  that  he  would  be  at  home  at  that  time  and 
ready  to  receive  visitors.  This  hint  was  sufficient,  and, 
once  the  governor  was  gone,  they  gathered  up  all  the 
presents  they  intended  for  him,  and  in  due  time  started 
for  his  palace.  We  will  listen  to  Harry  as  he  tells  the 
story  of  the  visit. 

*'  We  proceeded  first,"  said  the  youth,  *'  to  the  house  of 
the  *  kado,'  or  lord  of  the  treasury,  who  had  accompanied 
the  governor  on  his  call  upon  us.  His  house  looked  more 
like  a  farmyard  than  anything  else,  as  it  was  a  low  build- 
ing at  one  side  of  a  large  court  that  contained  cattle, 
sheep,  camels,  and  donkeys,  not  to  mention  a  goodly 
number  of  chickens.  I  could  not,  by  the  wildest  stretch 
of  the  imagination,  call  it  clean ;  it  was  clean  when  com- 
pared with  an  ordinary  barnyard,  but  not  when  regarded 
as  the  court  of  a  gentleman's  house.  In  fact,  we  could 
not  find  places  for  sitting  down  without  soiling  our  gar- 
ments, and  so  we  remained  standing  as  long  as  we  were 
outside.  We  waited  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before 
we  were  taken  into  an  inner  room  and  offered  places  to 
sit  on  a  divan.  The  kado  received  us  civilly  enough, 
though  he  did  not  offer  any  refreshments ;  he  immediately 
set  about  examining  our  presents  for  the  governor,  and  it 
was  evident  from  his  manner  that  he  had  the  power  of 
accepting  or  rejecting  any  or  all  of  the  presents  we  had 
brought.  There  was  a  large  pocket-knife  with  many 
blades,  a  mirror  with  a  very  gaudy  frame,  a  watch  having 
a  gold-filled  case,   a  white  bournous,   and  a  white  shirt. 


THE    GOVERNOR    DID    NOT    RISE    TO    RECEIVE    US  —  " 


A    TOWN    IN    MOTION.  28 1 

His  lordship  was  evidently  fond  of  mirrors,  as  he  took 
possession  of  the  gaudily  framed  one  for  himself,  and 
ordered  the  rest  of  the  presents  made  into  a  bundle.  As 
soon  as  the  parcel  was  completed  we  started  for  the 
palace,  followed  by  a  servant  who  carried  our  gifts. 

"The  palace  is  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  courtyards,  con- 
nected by  inner  passages,  and  with  audience  rooms  and 
other  apartments  opening  out  from  the  sides.  I  did  not 
count  the  number  of  courtyards  that  we  passed  through,  but 
it  seemed  to  me  that  there  were  some  twelve  or  fifteen  of 
them  altogether.  They  were  not  by  any  means  quiet 
spots,  as  each  one  contained  dozens,  and  in  some  instances 
a  hundred  or  more  people,  freemen  and  slaves  of  various 
importance,  chatting  and  laughing  together,  some  stand- 
ing or  walking  about,  others  squatted  on  the  ground,  and 
a  few  lying  asleep  in  the  corners. 

"  After  waiting  a  little  while  in  one  of  the  courtyards, 
we  were  taken  to  the  audience  hall  of  the  governor,  which 
was  so  poorly  lighted  that  it  required  several  minutes  for 
our  eyes  to  get  accustomed  to  it.  It  was  quite  a  large 
hall,  and  I  think  the  largest  we  had  seen  in  Africa ;  the 
ceiling  was  high  and  supported  by  arches  that  were  quite 
ornamental.  At  one  end  of  the  hall  there  were  two  niches, 
or  recesses  ;  in  one  of  these  niches  the  governor  was  reclin- 
ing on  a  divan  on  which  a  richly  embroidered  carpet  was 
spread. 

"  The  governor  did  not  rise  to  receive  us,  — in  fact,  he 
hardly  moved  a  muscle  when  we  stood  before  him,  while 
his  lord  of  the  treasury  presented  us  and  unfolded  the 
presents  we  had  brought.      He  seemed  more  interested  in 


282  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

the  presents  than  in  us,  and  gave  a  hint  of  what  was  prob- 
ably lurking  in  his  mind  by  asking  us  if  we  had  any  more 
goods  of  the  same  kind.  We  replied  through  our  inter- 
preter that  we  had  selected  our  best  things  for  him.  To 
this  answer  he  gave  a  nod  of  approval,  asked  a  few  ques- 
tions about  our  travels  and  our  reasons  for  cominor  to 
Kano,  and  then  dismissed  us  with  a  wave  of  his  hand. 

"We  were  not  particularly  pleased  with  our  reception, 
as  the  governor  seemed  to  take  no  interest  in  our  move- 
ments, and  did  not  give  us  any  information  that  would  be 
of  use  to  us  ;  he  did  not  appear  to  care  where  we  went, 
and  altogether  seemed  to  desire  to  be  rid  of  us.  The 
doctor  suggested  that  we  would  hear  from  him  soon  with 
a  demand  for  more  presents,  and,  sure  enough,  we  had 
scarcely  reached  our  quarters  when  the  lord  of  the  treas- 
ury came  to  us  with  the  announcement  that  the  governor 
desired  a  pistol  of  the  kind  that  turns  around  and  shoots 
several  times.  We  had  several  revolvers  among  the 
things  which  we  intended  as  presents  to  great  dignitaries, 
and  the  doctor  proceeded  to  bring  one  of  them  to  light, 
carefully  concealing  the  presence  of  the  others.  We  sent 
this  to  the  governor  with  a  box  containing  one  hundred 
cartridges  for  the  weapon,  but  before  going  away  the  lord 
of  the  treasury  said  he  would  like  a  pistol  for  himself. 

"Here  was  a  dilemma;  if  we  gave  the  lord  of  the 
treasury  a  revolver  similar  to  that  of  the  governor's  it 
would  greatly  cheapen  the  present  in  the  eyes  of  the  latter, 
and  furthermore,  it  would  bring  the  whole  horde  of  offi- 
cials down  upon  us  with  demands  for  similar  presents. 
On  the  other  hand,  it   would   not  do   to  offend   this   high 


A    TOWN    IN    MOTION.  283 

dignitary,  as  he  was  the  intermediary  between  us  and  the 
governor,  and  might  make  serious  trouble  for  us.  The 
doctor  hunted  around  to  find  another  revolver,  but  of 
course  hunted  in  the  wrong  places  ;  with  an  expression 
of  delight,  he  came  upon  a  large  clasp-knife  containing 
four  or  five  blades,  a  tiny  saw,  tweezers,  scissors, —  in  fact, 
a  whole  kit  of  tools,  most  of  them  so  small  as  to  be  of  little 
practical  use.  With  a  great  deal  of  ceremony,  he  presented 
this  to  his  excellency  who  went  away  satisfied. 

*''Wemust  get  out  of  Kano  as  quickly  as  possible,' 
said  the  doctor  when  the  fellow  had  gone  ;  '  these  chaps 
will  beggar  us  in  a  very  short  time,  and  the  more  we  give 
them  the  more  they  will  demand.' 

*'  Ned  and  I  w^ere  thinking  the  same  thing  when  the 
doctor  spoke,  and  Ned  asked  if  we  could  go  away  without 
the  permission  of  the  governor. 

*'  *  There's  the  trouble,'  said  the  doctor,  '  and  it  may  be 
a  serious  one ;  etiquette  requires  that  we  should  obtain  the 
governor's  permission,  and  not  only  etiquette,  but  our 
safety.  It  would  be  very  difficult  for  us  to  move  with  all 
our  caravan  without  authority,  and  even  if  we  did  get 
away  from  the  town,  the  governor,  on  hearing  of  it,  could, 
and  undoubtedly  would,  send  after  and  bring  us  back. 
We  would  be  liable  to  be  plundered  of  everything  we  pos- 
sess, and  might  get  into  prison  for  our  temerity.  We 
shall  be  obliged  to  stay  here  two  or  three  days,  at  any 
rate,  but  I  shall  begin  to  make  our  plans  for  moving  on 
immediately.' 

"  Renaud  came  to  our  house  an  hour  or  two  later,  and 
was  told  to  keep  the  camels  well  fed  and  everything  in 


284  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

readiness  for  a  speedy  departure  whenever  the  signal  was 
given.  We  arranged  our  baggage  so  that  it  could  be 
packed  very  quickly,  and  that  very  evening  we  sent  to  the 
camp  such  of  it  as  we  did  not  need  with  us,  and  had  it 
placed  under  guard  in  Renaud's  tent.  We  determined 
that  whenever  w^e  obtained  the  authority  to  depart  we 
would  give  the  impression,  w^ithout  saying  so  distinctly, 
that  w^e  would  not  leave  for  a  day  or  two,  but  at  the  same 
time  would  proceed  to  get  away  as  quickly  as  possible. 

'*  Early  the  next  morning  Ned  and  I  started  out  to  see 
the  place,  taking  as  guide  a  man  who  was  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  ins  and  outs  of  Kano.  We  were  on 
horseback,  while  our  guide  was  on  foot ;  he  took  us 
through  all  parts  of  the  town,  and  we  were  quite  sur- 
prised at  its  extent.  The  people  were  in  all  varieties  of 
costume,  from  the  gaudily  dressed  Arab  down  to  the 
naked  slave.  In  visiting  an  African  town  it  is  very  neces- 
sary to  be  on  horseback,  as  the  traveler  is  often  passing 
along  the  sides  of  walls  and  fences  which  a  horseman  can 
look  over,  but  a  pedestrian  cannot.  A  great  many  scenes 
of  domestic  life  are  thus  brought  to  the  eye  of  the  mounted 
traveler  which  totally  escape  the  observation  of  the 
stranger  on  foot. 

"  Many  of  the  houses  of  Kano  are  well  built,  and  not  a 
few  are  as  substantial  and  extensive  as  the  ordinary 
Moorish  dwelling  in  the  towns  along  the  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean.  The  courtyards  are  generally  spacious, 
and  not  infrequently  include  small  gardens  and  grass 
plots.  Most  of  the  houses  are  of  one  story,  with  rooms 
opening    upon    a    courtyard,   and  each  has  but    a    single 


A   TOWN    IN    MOTION.  285 

entrance  from  the  street.  Many  of  the  courtyards  have 
sheds  hke  verandas  immediately  in  front  of  the  buildings, 
so  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  houses  may  lounge  in  open 
air,  and  at  the  same  time  be  sheltered  from  the  sun  and 
rain.  Judging  bv  the  number  of  good  houses,  there  must 
be  considerable  wealth  in  the  place.  In  the  poorer  parts 
of  Kano  the  houses  are  small,  and  sometimes  the}^  are 
divided  between  two  or  more  families,  though  this  is  not 
usually  the  case ;  people  seem  to  prefer  a  very  small 
dwelling  entirely  to  themselves  than  to  divide  a  much 
larger  habitation  with  others.  Ned  thinks  they  are 
familiar  with  the  old  proverb,  '  No  house  is  large  enough 
for  two  families.' 

"We  passed  through  a  small  market-place,  but  did  not 
linger  there,  as  we  were  told  that  there  was  a  much  larger 
one  farther  on.  We  continued  our  journey,  and  soon 
reached  the  great  market,  which  covers  a  large  square,  and 
presented  a  very  animated  scene.  There  were  rows  of  shops 
there,  wath  goods  of  native  and  foreign  productions,  and  a 
crowd  of  buyers  and  sellers  who  seemed  to  place  no  value 
upon  time.  Negotiations  proceeded  very  slowly,  but  this 
is  the  case  all  through  the  country  where  we  have  traveled, 
and  so  we  are  not  surprised  at  it. 

"The  market-place  is  divided  into  spaces  for  particular 
articles  of  trade,  very  much  as  the  bazaars  of  Constanti- 
nople, Cairo,  and  other  Moslem  cities  are  arranged.  One 
portion  of  the  market-place  is  devoted  to  the  necessities  of 
life,  such  as  corn,  grain,  vegetables,  meat,  and  other 
articles.  Not  the  least  important  is  the  place  allotted  to 
slaves,  who  were  under  a  shed,  some   appearing    robust 


286  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

and  well  fed,  others  half  starved,   and    all  very  scantily 
clad,  or  not  clad  at  all. 

*'  Another  part  of  the  place  is  devoted  to  cattle,  horses, 
and  camels,  but  the  principal  market  for  these  animals  is 
in  another  locality  outside  the  walls.  The  scenes  in  the 
market-place  were  very  animated,  and  we  could  have 
spent  hours  in  their  contemplation.  Rich  and  poor  were 
mingled  together ;  the  former  in  all  the  fashionable  finery 
of  the  time  and  place,  and  the  latter  scantily  dressed,  and 
looking  wistfully  at  the  articles  of  food  which  they  were 
unable  to  buy.  We  observed  that  blind  people  were 
numerous,  and  learned,  on  inquiry,  that  opthalmia  was 
very  prevalent  among  the  people. 

"  The  region  around  the  market-place  is  said  to  be  un- 
healthy, and  it  is  no  wonder  that  such  is  the  case.  Close 
by  the  market-place  is  the  Jakara,  a  deep  pond  perhaps  a 
thousand  feet  in  length  by  three  or  four  hundred  in  width  ; 
this  pond  receives  all  the  drainage  from  the  neighborhood, 
and  all  the  offal  from  the  slaughter-houses  in  that  part  of 
the  market  is  thrown  into  it.  Evidently  the  people  of 
Kano  have  no  knowledge  of  sanitary  science,  or  they 
would  readily  understand,  especially  as  the  water  from 
the  Jakara  is  used  for  household  purposes,  why  that 
region  is  as  unhealthy  as  it  is.  There  are  two  other 
ponds  in  the  city,  and  they  are  nearly,  but  not  quite  as 
unhealthy  as  the  one  I've  mentioned. 

''  Caravans  came  and  went  in  the  market-place,  some  of 
them  from  long  distances,  and  bringing  merchandise  for 
sale  at  a  large  profit.  Kano  is  a  great  place  of  trade, 
resembling  in  this  respect  Gadames,  which  we  have  here- 


A    TOWN    IN    MOTION.  287 

tofore  described.  The  goods  for  sale  in  the  market  are  in 
great  variety,  including  products  of  the  whole  of  northern 
Africa,  and  also  of  Europe  and  America.  We  saw  iron- 
ware from  Birmingham,  cottons  from  Manchester,  cutlery 
from  Sheffield,  knives  and  mirrors  from  Germany,  and 
trinkets  and  gewgaws  from  France  and  Switzerland. 
America  was  less  extensively  represented  than  England  or 
the  countries  of  the  continent.  There  were  cotton  cloths 
from  American  mills,  but  not  in  great  number,  and  there 
were  knives,  hatchets,  and  other  tools  and  implements 
from  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts.  Fortunately  for  the 
people,  they  have  not  yet  become  extensive  users  of  ardent 
spirits,  either  from  America  or  any  European  country. 
As  the  rulers  of  the  land  are  Mohammedans,  they  show 
no  inclination  to  favor  the  demoralizing  trade,  and  hence 
the  slight  demand  for  that  article  of  infamous  traffic  which 
is  so  abundant  on  the  coast. 

*'  I  am  reminded  in  this  connection,  though  it  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  Kano,  that  when  European  trade  was 
opened  up  on  the  Niger  by  the  English  it  speedily  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Brazilians  who  came  there  to  buy 
slaves,  the  slave  trade  then  being  active  in  Brazil.  Car- 
goes of  American  goods  from  New  York,  Boston,  and 
Philadelphia  were  sent  directly  to  the  ports  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Niger,  where  they  were  delivered  over  to  the 
Brazilian  agents  stationed  there.  These  cargoes  con- 
sisted of  rum,  cotton  cloths,  and  the  cheapest  kind  of 
knives,  pistols,  axes,  hatchets,  looking-glasses,  beads, 
and  other  trade  goods  of  which  the  African  is  fond. 
They  were  shipped  up  the  river  and  used  in  the  purchase 


288  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

of  slaves ;  as  there  were  no  merchants  but  the  Brazilians 
who  would  take  slaves  in  payment  for  goods,  they  had  the 
monopoly  of  business,  and  the  English  were  practically 
driven  from  the  market.  When  the  slave  trade  was 
abolished  in  Brazil  there  was  no  market  for  the  principal 
product  of  Africa,  and  consequently  other  nations  were 
able  to  compete  with  America  in  the  trade  of  the  Niger. 
When  this  state  of  affairs  came  about  the  demand  for 
American  goods  ceased,  and  England  and  France  ob- 
tained possession  of  the  market. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

KANO    AND    SOKOTO TIMBUCTOO. 

**  rX  ANO  is  not  only  a  place  of  trade,"  continued  Harry, 
1\.  "  but  also  a  place  of  manufacture.  Cotton  is  pro- 
duced in  this  part  of  Africa,  and  the  people  of  Kano 
display  considerable  skill  in  spinning,  weaving,  and  dye- 
ing it.  The  dyer's  trade  is  an  important  one  ;  we  passed 
several  houses  where  the  women  were  spinning  cotton,  or 
weaving  the  thread  into  cloth,  and  we  also  passed  dyeing 
establishments,  where  men  were  mixing  the  indigo  and 
other  coloring  matters  ;  others  were  taking  articles  from  the 
dye  pots  and  hanging  them  up  to  dry,  and  others  were 
forming  the  goods  into  packages  for  sending  away. 
Most  of  the  cloth  is  made  into  shirts  or  bournouses.  The 
colors  are  by  no  means  uniform,  and  the  best  of  the 
articles  are  considerably  variegated. 

*'  Some  of  the  cotton  is  woven  with  a  certain  proportion 
of  silk,  and  it  bears  different  names,  according  to  the 
quantity  of  silk  contained  in  it.  Of  late  years  the  silk 
industry  has  increased  considerably ;  the  silk  is  the 
product  of  the  country,  and  great  improvements  have  been 
made  in  the  rearing  of  the  silkworm.  In  silks  and  cot- 
tons we  saw  several  varieties  of  plaids,  some  white  and 
black  checkered,  some  of  white,  black,  and  red,  others 
with  large  squares,   and  some  with   small   ones.     Taken 

289 


290 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


altogether,  as  far  as  we  could  learn,  there  must  be  at  least 
fifty  different  varieties  of  cotton  and  silk  goods.  They 
are  sent  in  all  directions  by  caravans, —  to  the  north  as  far  as 
Mourzouk,  and  sometimes  to  Tripoli ;  to  the  west,  not  only 
to  Timbuctoo,  but  even  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic ;  to 
the  east  all  over  Bornoo,  as  far  as  the  Nile ;  and  to  the 
south  beyond  the  Niger  and  the  Benoue.  In  fact,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  limit  of  the  demand  for  the  cloths  of  Kano, 
so  far  as  the  south  is  concerned,  is  the  limit  of  the  region 
where  people  wear  any  kind  of  clothing. 

''  The  few  travelers  who  have  visited  Timbuctoo  speak 
of  the  fine  quality  of  the  cotton  cloths  made  in  that  town ; 
the  fact  is,  as  we  afterward  learned,  that  nearly  all  the 
cotton  sold  in  Timbuctoo  comes  from  Kano,  and  it  is  esti- 
mated that  the  exports  to  that  city  alone  amount  to  no 
^  less  than  three  hundred  camel  loads  every  year. 

''  In  addition  to  cloths,  Kano  produces  sandals  and 
leather  goods  in  general.  Sheepskins  are  dyed  here,  the 
principal  color  being  red,  and  they  are  exported  in  large 
quantities.  The  Kanoese  make  boxes  from  the  kola-nut, 
and  show  great  ingenuity  in  carving  them ;  then  there  is 
a  large  trade  in  natron,  or  soda,  and  also  in  salt,  the  latter 
article  being  imported  for  consumption  in  the  provinces. 
They  formerly  imported  great  quantities  of  woolen  cloth 
of  a  very  poor  quality,  nearly  all  of  it  dyed  red,  but  this 
has  gone  out  of  fashion,  and  the  importations  of  it  at  pres- 
ent are  very  light.  We  saw  quite  a  quantity  of  the  old- 
fashioned  sugar  loaves  in  the  market,  and  were  told  that 
in  some  places  they  were  used  as  currency.  The  people 
prefer  small  loaves  to  large  ones,  and  some  that  we  saw 


KANO    AND    SOKOTO.  29I 

did  not  weigh  over  two  pounds  each.  A  httle  ivory,  but 
not  a  great  deal,  is  exported.  There  is  some  gold-dust 
which  finds  its  way  out  of  Kano,  but  there  is  no  gold  coin 
in  circulation.  Silver  dollars  and  cowrie  shells  are  the 
currency  of  the  place,  the  dollars  being  the  Maria  Theresa 
coins,  and  also  the  Spanish  dollar.  The  former  is  pre- 
ferred, not  because  it  is  any  better,  but  because  the  people 
dislike  the  two  pillars  on  the  coin  of  Spain  on  account  of 
their  resemblance  to  cannon. 

"  I  don't  know  but  that  I've  said  more  than  you  care  to 
read  about  the  commerce  and  manufactures  of  this  city ; 
if  so,  please  excuse  me,  and  skip  what  you  don't  want  to 
know  about.  The  subject  is  interesting  to  us,  and  conse- 
quently I  thought  that  you  might  like  to  hear  about  it. 

*'  When  we  got  back  to  our  quarters  we  were  told  that 
the  governor  was  coming  to  return  our  call,  and  of  course 
we  knew  that  he  would  be  pretty  sure  to  intimate  a  want 
of  some  kind  or  other.  He  came  in  the  afternoon  with 
his  lord  of  the  treasury  and  a  whole  lot  of  followers  of 
high  and  low  degree.  He  squatted  on  the  carpeted  divan 
which  we  had  prepared  for  him,  and  partook  of  the  coffee 
that  we  offered.  His  attendants  crowded  into  the  room 
until  they  filled  it  completely ;  there  seemed  to  be  no 
order  or  regularity  about  their  movements,  and  as  for 
ceremony,  the  whole  visit  was  decidedly  unceremonious. 
Sure  enough,  the  governor  did  as  we  had  expected  ;  he 
intimated  that  he  would  like  to  look  at  our  collection  of 
presents,  as  there  might  be  something  that  he  would  wish 
to  have.  So  we  opened  the  few  packages  we  had  in 
sight ;  it  was  a  lucky  circumstance  that  we  sent  our  super- 


292  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

fluous  belongings  to  Renaud's  tent,  as  already  mentioned, 
and  as  the  goods  were  sent  there  after  dark,  when  all  the 
people  were  in  their  houses,  nobody  seemed  to  have  dis- 
covered the  transfer,  or,  at  any  rate,  the  news  had  not 
reached  the  governor. 

"The  goods  that  we  displayed  were  of  no  great  conse- 
quence, and  the  governor  was  convinced  that  he  had  really 
obtained  the  pick  of  the  lot,  as  he  assumed  a  satisfied  air, 
and  only  took  two  or  three  handkerchiefs,  a  clasp-knife, 
and  a  small  bell,  one  of  those  operated  by  a  coiled  spring 
set  in  motion  by  touching  a  knob  on  the  top.  During  the 
rest  of  his  visit,  after  he  obtained  possession  of  the  bell, 
he  tinkled  it  every  few  minutes,  to  the  great  delight  of 
himself  and  all  his  attendants.  I  fancy  that  he  stayed 
awake  for  a  few  nights,  just  for  the  fun  of  ringing  that 
bell  and  summoning  his  attendants. 

*' We  took  advantage  of  his  good  nature,  while  playing 
with  the  bell,  to  suggest  that  we  wanted  to  move  on.  He 
did  not  give  an  immediate  answer,  but  cast  another  glance 
at  our  store  of  goods,  and  then  assented.  We  felt  like 
smiling  all  around  at  the  readiness  with  which  he  allowed 
us  to  go,  but  were  careful  not  to  make  known  our  feelings. 
Of  course,  his  followers  wanted  presents,  but  we  managed 
to  put  them  off  with  handkerchiefs,  scarfs,  cheap  pocket- 
knives,  a  few  Birmingham  razors,  and  some  other  articles 
of  no  great  cost. 

*' The  governor  remained  with  us  about  half  an  hour, 
and  then  rose  to  go.  We  did  not  interfere  with  his  depart- 
ure, and  were  decidedly  glad  when  he  and  his  followers 
were  out  of  sight.      We  were  uncertain  whether  he  would 


KANO    AND    SOKOTO.  293 

send  an  escort  to  accompany  us  a  short  distance  on  our 
way,  but  earnestly  hoped  he  would  do  nothing  of  the  kind. 
We  had  his  permission  to  leave  and  that  was  all  we 
wanted. 

*' A  little  before  sunset  we  received  from  the  governor 
a  steaming  dish  of  kouskousou  as  a  farewell  gift.  The 
doctor  suggested  that  before  we  sat  dow^n  to  eat  it  we 
would  do  well  to  follow  the  custom  of  actors  and  theatrical 
managers  in  America  when  they  are  introducing  a  new 
play,  — that  is,  '  try  it  on  a  dog.' 

*'  '  Why  so?  '  I  exclaimed. 

*'  '  Well,'  replied  the  doctor,  '  the  governor  has  acted  so 
uncivilly  towards  us  that  it  is  just  possible  he  might  end 
our  acquaintance  by  poison.  Poison  is  a  very  effective 
weapon  in  this  country,  and  is  frequently  used  to  get  rid 
of  disagreeable  or  inconvenient  personages.' 

"There  were  two  or  three  do^s  hangrincr  about  our 
courtyard,  and  they  did  not  seem  to  belong  to  anybody, 
or  be  well  fed ;  we  took  about  a  quart  of  the  kouskousou 
and  poured  it  on  the  ground  in  sight  of  one  of  these 
animals.  Needless  to  say  that  when  we  stepped  back  a 
little  he  approached,  and,  to  apply  the  slang  phrase,  '  got 
outside  of  it'  very  quickly.  We  watched  him  for  quite 
aw^hile,  and,  as  far  as  we  could  see,  he  suffered  no  incon- 
venience from  the  food,  so  we  concluded  that  we  had  mis- 
judged the  governor,  and  wrongly  suspected  him.  We 
made  a  mental  apology  to  him,  and  proceeded  to  give  the 
kouskousou  to  our  servants.  Renaud  came  to  get  his 
orders  for  the  next  day,  and  he  got  them  very  quickly ; 
these  were  to  transfer  all  our  remaining  baggage  to  camp, 


294 


IN    WILD    AFRICA. 


and  get  everything  in  readiness  for  an  early  start.  We 
also  told  him  that  we  would  remain  m  our  quarters  during 
the  night  and  meet  him  early  the  next  morning  at  the  camp. 

''When  we  got  to  camp  we  found  that  everything  was 
in  readiness  for  moving  on.  One  of  the  camel  drivers 
was  missing  and  another  was  sent  to  hunt  him  up.  We 
were  afraid  that  this  circumstance  would  delay  us,  and 
so  it  did,  but  only  for  a  half  hour.  The  missing  driver 
turned  up  along  with  the  one  we  sent  to  search  for  him. 
Then  we  filed  out  of  the  camp,  and  were  soon  on  the  way 
to  the  southwest." 

In  view  of  his  experience  with  the  governor  of  Kano, 
Dr.  Whitney  determined  that  he  would  give  Sokoto  a 
wide  berth,  and  follow  a  road  which  would  not  bring  him 
near  that  place.  He  naturally  concluded  that  the  sultan 
would  be  quite  as  rapacious  as  his  subordinate,  the  gov- 
ernor, and  probably  more  so,  and  a  visit  to  the  capital 
would  be  likely  to  result  in  his  being  stripped  of  the 
greater  part  of  his  valuables,  either  by  a  demand  for 
numerous  presents  or  by  downright  robbery.  Conse- 
quently he  took  a  line  of  march  that  would  carry  him  well 
away  from  the  place  he  dreaded  so  much. 

The  route  which  the  caravan  followed  took  them  first 
through  a  fairly  productive  and  well-peopled  country,  and 
then  it  brought  them  to  the  southern  edge  of  the  Great 
Sahara.  On  the  borders  of  the  desert  they  encountered 
their  old  friends,  or  enemies,  the  Tuaregs,  whose  range 
extends  southward-  to  the  limit  of  the  desert,  and  in  some 
places  beyond  it.  The  doctor  still  retained  the  safe-con- 
duct which   he   obtained  from   the  Tuareg  chiefs   in  the 


KANO    AND    SOKOTO.  295 

early  part  of  his  travels.  He  hardly  expected  that  it 
would  be  of  any  use  so  far  from  the  point  where  it  was 
given,  and  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  buy  over  again  the 
right  to  travel  through  the  Tuareg  country.  But,  to  his 
surprise  and  delight,  the  safe-conduct  was  acknowledged  to 
be  in  full  force,  and  he  was  told  that  he  could  travel 
without  interference  wherever  he  chose.  A  hint  was 
given,  however,  that  a  few  presents  would  be  acceptable, 
and  these  he  proceeded  to  give  without  hesitation. 

The  Tuaregs  follow  the  same  system  of  plundering  in 
this  part  of  the  desert  as  they  do  in  the  regions  farther 
north.  They  make  raids  upon  the  negro  villages,  driving 
away  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses,  and  helping  themselves 
generally  to  what  they  want.  Many  of  the  towns  and 
villages  obtain  immunity  from  these  raids  by  paying 
blackmail  regularly.  The  tax  is  a  heavy  one  upon  them, 
but  their  only  alternative  is,  in  default  of  payment,  to 
submit  to  whatever  the  Tuaregs  choose  to  do. 

Our  friends  caused  it  to  be  given  out  that  they  were 
under  the  protection  of  the  Tuaregs,  and  by  making  this 
fact  known  they  escaped  annoyances  which  otherwise 
might  have  been  their  lot.  By  keeping  constantly  in  the 
edge  of  the  region  over  which  the  Tuaregs  held  sway 
they  were  safe  from  encounters  with  the  local  sheikhs  of 
the  negro  districts,  and  consequently  were  under  no  neces- 
sity for  dealing  out  presents  right  and  left  as  they  went 
along.  Occasionally  they  mst  caravans  traveling  toward 
the  southward,  and  some  of  them  of  considerable  size ;  in 
several  instances  they  exchanged  guides  with  these  cara- 
vans to  the  mutual  advantage  of  both  parties. 


296  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

In  one  region  which  was  considered  dangerous  Dr. 
Whitney  engaged  a  Tuareg  sheikh  and  his  men  to  accom- 
pany the  caravan  for  several  days.  At  the  end  of  the 
stipulated  time  the  sheikh  was  so  well  pleased  with  his  com- 
panions that  he  offered  to  continue  the  journey,  for  a  small 
compensation,  as  far  as  Timbuctoo.  The  doctor  gladly 
consented  to  pay  the  price  demanded,  and  in  due  time 
arrived  in  front  of  that  famous  city, —  the  most  famous,  in 
some  respects,  of  all  the  interior  cities  of  Africa. 

We  will  listen  to  Ned  as  he  tells  of  the  experiences  of 
the  party  in  their  visit  to  Timbuctoo. 

*'  We  halted  on  a  high  ridge  six  or  eight  miles  from  the 
city,"  said  the  youth  in  his  journal,  "  and  sent  forth  a 
messenger  to  announce  our  coming.  From  the  point 
where  we  were  Timbuctoo  presented  quite  an  imposing 
appearance.  The  ground  on  which  it  stands  is  a  very 
slight  hill,  rising  in  a  gentle  slope  on  all  sides  towards  the 
center.  In  the  center  is  a  tower,  or  minaret,  rising  above 
the  tops  of  the  surrounding  buildings,  and  reminding 
Harry  and  myself  of  the  dome  of  the  State  House  as  it 
rises  above  Boston.  The  city  is  partially  surrounded  by 
walls  built  of  clay,  but  they  are  very  weak,  though  they 
might  resist  for  a  little  while  the  attacks  of  horsemen  or 
infantry  not  provided  with  implements  for  digging  and 
quarrying.  A  battery  of  artillery  would  not  want  a  great 
deal  of  time  to  make  a  hole  in  the  wall ;  neither  would  a 
party  of  workmen  armed  with  picks  and  shovels.  There 
are  many  houses  and  huts  outside  the  walls,  and  it  is  in 
these  dwellings  that  caravans  and  single  travelers  are 
usually  lodged. 


KANO    AND    SOKOTO.  297 

'*  It  was  difficult  for  us  to  realize  that  we  were  actually 
in  sight  of  Timbuctoo,  a  city  which  has  always  treated  the 
foreigner  with  a  great  deal  of  jealousy,  rarely  allowing 
him  to  set  foot  within  its  boundaries,  and  on  more  than 
one  occasion  murdering  him  in  punishment  for  his  temer- 
ity in  coming  there.  A  year  or  two  ago  a  small  force  of 
French  soldiers  reached  Timbuctoo  and  took  possession  of 
it,  but  the  period  of  their  occupation  was  brief.  They 
were  assaulted,  defeated,  and  driven  away,  with  the  loss 
of  their  commander,  and  some  other  officers,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  men.  The  inhabitants  and  authorities 
of  the  city  made  common  cause  with  their  usually  hostile 
neighbors,  and  united  peaceably  with  them  to  expel  the 
invader.  Quite  likely  the  French  will  come  again,  and  in 
larger  numbers,  but  for  the  present  Timbuctoo  retains  the 
independence  which  it  has  possessed  for  a  long  time. 

''  When  we  had  sufficiently  rested  we  moved  on  towards 
Timbuctoo.  About  three  miles  from  the  city  we  met  the 
governor's  brother  with  an  escort,  and  he  announced 
through  an  interpreter  that  he  was  sent  to  accompany  us 
to  our  destination.  He  added  that  before  going  further  he 
must  receive  some  presents,  and  also  must  know  what 
presents  we  intended  for  the  governor.  We  excused  our- 
selves from  making  any  presents  then  and  there,  for  the 
reason  that  all  our  baggage  was  securely  packed  on  the 
backs  of  the  camels,  and  it  would  be  exceedingly  incon- 
venient to  stop  where  we  were  and  unpack  it.  He  ad- 
mitted the  force  of  this  reasoning  and  said  we  could  go  on, 
but  the  presents  must  be  brought  out  as  soon  as  the  loads 
were  removed  from  the  camels'  backs. 


298  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

*'  This  was  not  a  very  good  beginning,  and  we  foresaw 
no  amount  of  trouble  in  our  intercourse  with  the  governor 
and  his  officials. 

*'  Our  caravan  came  to  a  halt  among  the  buildings  out- 
side the  town,  and  the  governor's  brother  indicated  to  us 
the  house  that  would  be  our  dwelling-place  during  our 
stay.  He  told  us  that  we  were  not  to  attempt  to  enter  the 
city  without  the  governor's  permission,  or  that  of  himself. 
He  was  the  representative  of  the  governor  with  all  cara- 
vans and  travelers ;  he  intimated  to  us  that  if  he  was 
properly  treated  we  should  have  no  trouble,  but  if,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  were  not  liberal  with  presents,  he  could 
and  would  make  trouble  for  us.  This  fellow  stayed  with 
us  until  the  baggage  was  unloaded  from  the  camels,  and 
then  he  renewed  his  demands  for  presents.  We  gave  him 
a  bournous  of  the  best  quality,  a  caftan,  or  jacket,  and  a 
silk  shirt,  together  with  a  few  small  articles,  and  thought 
he  would  be  satisfied. 

"'That  doesn't  begin  to  be  enough,'  said  the  official 
blackmailer.  *  I  want  another  bournous,  two  more  silk 
shirts,  a  rifle  with  five  hundred  pounds  of  ammunition, 
and  a  many-shooting  pistol  (revolver).' 

"'You  had  better  take  all  we  have  and  an  order  on 
New  York  for  twice  as  much,'  said  Harry,  in  an  under- 
tone. Then  he  added,  '  We  can't  stay  long  around  Tim- 
buctoo  ;  it  is  a  luxury  which  only  the  affluent  can  afford.' 

"  Dr.  Whitney  said  that  he  didn't  intend  to  give  the 
man  what  he  demanded,  but  it  was  judicious  to  compro- 
mise with  him,  as  his  ill-will  would  be  a  serious  matter. 
He  told  the  interpreter  to  say  that  we  were  unable  to   get 


KANO    AND    SOKOTO.  299 

at  the  packages  containing  all  our  goods,  but  when  the 
governor  should  visit  us  he  would  doubtless  find  every- 
thing satisfactory.  We  made  him  understand  very 
clearly  that  we  could  do  nothing  more  until  we  saw  the 
governor,  and  after  some  persuasion  the  man  went  away, 
promising  that  the  governor  w^ould  come  to  see  us  on  the 
morrow. 

"  We  were  forbidden  to  go  out  of  our  house  until  we 
had  seen  the  governor,  and,  in  order  to  get  the  air  and  see 
as  much  as  possible,  we  went  up  to  the  terrace  of  the 
building,  w^hich  afforded  an  excellent  view  of  the  northern 
part  of  the  city.  The  most  prominent  object  in  our  range 
of  vision  was  the  mosque  of  Sankoray,  the  largest  in  the 
city.  It  stands  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  mosque,  and  has 
recently  been  restored  to  all  its  original  glory.  Previous 
to  its  restoration,  it  had  greatly  fallen  into  ruins.  There 
are  several  other  mosques  in  Timbuctoo  ;  one  of  them  is 
called  The  Great  Mosque,  although  it  is  not  as  extensive 
as  the  one  just  mentioned. 

*'  Most  of  the  houses  visible  from  our  roof  were  of  a 
single  story  only,  though  there  was  a  goodly  number  of 
two-storied  buildings.  Huts  of  matting  and  of  grass  were 
scattered  among  the  buildings  in  open  squares  or  on  other- 
wise vacant  lots,  and  the  number  of  them  was  sufficient  to 
give  the  impression  that  Timbuctoo  was  by  no  means 
crowded.  The  streets  are  narrow  and  closely  shut  in  by 
the  buildings,  and  from  our  position  on  the  roof  of  our 
house  we  could  see  verv  little  of  the  streets  or  what  was 
going  on  in  them.  We  found  the  terrace  in  a  very  dirty 
condition,  and  set  our  servants  to  cleaning  it  at  once ;  in 


300  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

fact,  the  whole  house  was  in  such  a  state  as  to  reflect  no 
credit  upon  the  previous  tenants. 

"  In  addition  to  being  very  dirty,  it  was  infested  by  ants 
of  several  varieties,  including  the  white  ant  which  makes 
such  terrible  havoc  with  all  articles  of  wool  or  leather. 
We  hung  some  woolen  garments  against  the  wall,  and  the 
next  morning  found  them  perforated  with  holes  which  the 
ants  had  eaten.  One  day  the  doctor  put  on  a  w^oolen 
bournous  and  sat  down  on  the  floor  in  the  corner  of  one  of 
our  rooms.  He  sat  there  for  half  an  hour  or  more  finish- 
ing a  sketch,  and  in  that  brief  time  the  ants  had  eaten  a 
hole  in  his  garment  at  least  half  an  inch  in  diameter.  If 
I  ever  select  a  place  for  a  permanent  residence  it  will  not 
be  in  the  suburbs  of  Timbuctoo. 

"  The  people  of  the  place  are  very  hostile  to  Christians, 
and  some  of  them  are  absolutely  fanatical  on  the  point  of 
allowing  Christians  within  their  boundaries.  We  were 
told  that  if  we  ventured  inside  the  city  we  were  in  danger 
of  being  killed  by  these  fanatics  ;  we  wanted  very  much 
to  see  the  city,  but  did  not  desire  the  sight  of  it  enough  to 
give  our  lives  in  exchange  for  it.  When  the  governor 
came  to  see  us,  as  he  did  on  the  day  promised,  we  asked 
permission  to  enter  the  city,  and  desired  to  be  informed  if 
there  was  any  danger  in  our  going  there.  With  an  eye  to 
business,  he  answered  that  the  excursion  was  full  of  danger, 
but  he  would  send  an  escort  which  would  make  us  entirely 
safe. 

"  An  escort  is  a  very  good  thing  in  its  way,  and  there  is 
no  doubt  that  it  has  saved  the  lives  of  many  travelers,  but 
with  an  escort  a  traveler  can't  see  one  quarter  as  much  as 


KANO    AND    SOKOTO.  3OI 

he  can  if  he  goes  alone.  The  leader  of  the  escort  takes 
you  to  a  few  principal  places,  and  that  is  all ;  whenever 
you  halt,  and  sometimes  when  in  motion,  you  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  and  your  range  of  vision  is  obstructed. 
We  were  obliged  to  accept  the  escort,  and  politely  thanked 
the  governor  for  the  favor  of  that  incumbrance  and  pro- 
tection. 

*'  Evidently  the  governor  and  his  brother  were  real 
brothers  and  no  mistake,  as  the  former  was  just  as  rapa- 
cious in  his  fondness  for  presents  as  the  latter  was.  We 
duplicated  to  the  governor  the  presents  which  we  had 
already  given  to  his  next  of  kin,  but  he  was  by  no  means 
satisfied.  We  added  more  and  more  to  the  allotment,  and 
the  governor  sat  there  as  still  as  a  log  of  wood.  I've  no 
doubt  that  he  would  have  taken  everything  we  had,  includ- 
ing our  camels  and  horses,  and  still  would  have  sat  there 
in  open-mouthed  cupidity,  never  raising  face  or  hand  to 
indicate  that  he  was  satisfied.  We  were  determined  not 
to  beggar  ourselves,  and  when  the  doctor  thought  we  had 
given  enough  he  cut  off  the  source  of  supplies  with  very 
little  ceremony.  Of  course  the  governor's  followers  came 
in  for  a  share,  including  the  brother  who  met  us  on  the 
road  the  day  before. 

**  We  now  had  permission  to  go  freely  about  the  suburbs, 
and  might  enter  the  city  under  the  guidance  of  an  escort. 
We  proceeded  to  do  both  things  that  very  day. 

**  Our  Tuareg  friends  circulated  the  storj'  that  we  were 
Moslems  from  Stamboul  (Constantinople),  and  as  it  was 
to  our  interest  to  have  this  story  believed  we  did  not  attempt 
to  contradict  the  beautiful  piece  of  fiction.     Dr.  Whitney 


302  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

had  a  letter  which  was  written  in  Turkish  by  the  drago- 
man in  the  American  consulate  at  the  capital  of  Turkey, 
and  commending  us  to  *  The  Faithful'  everywhere.  We 
had  shown  this  letter  on  several  occasions  and  it  had  been 
of  good  effect ;  we  tried  it  again  at  Timbuctoo  and  found 
it  very  useful,  as  it  inspired  a  wholesome  respect  for  us  on 
the  part  of  the  governor,  and  also  upon  the  chief  of  the 
escort  which  came  to  take  us  into  the  city. 

"The  letter,  in  reality,  amounted  to  nothing,  but  with 
the  Arab  tendency  to  imagination  it  was  counted  for  a 
great  deal.  According  to  our  Tuareg  friends,  we  three 
modest  travelers  were  men  of  immense  consequence  at 
Stamboul,  and  only  a  little  below  the  great  sultan.  It  is 
my  belief  that  the  awe  which  this  letter  inspired  had  much 
to  do  with  our  safety  at  Timbuctoo. 

*'  We  were  a  good  deal  disappointed  in  our  first  visit 
inside  the  city.  As  before  stated,  the  streets  are  very 
narrow,  probably  in  order  to  keep  out  the  sun,  which  at 
times  is  very  hot.  The  buildings  reminded  us  of  those  of 
Kano,  as  they  are  constructed  on  the  same  general  plan. 
Some  of  the  courtyards  are  open  to  the  street,  and  are 
visible  from  it,  but  as  a  general  thing  they  are  closed  by  a 
sort  of  wicker  gate,  so  that  the  pedestrian  or  equestrian 
can  see  little,  if  anything,  of  what  is  going  on  inside. 
The  market-place  is  a  large,  open  square,  not  so  large  as 
that  of  Kano,  nor  is  it  as  densely  crowded  with  people. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  Kano  contains  about  forty 
thousand  inhabitants,  while  Timbuctoo  has  less  than  half 
that  number.  The  exact  population  nobody  knows  ;  we 
asked  several  of  the  most  intelligent  officials  that  we  came 


KANO    AND    SOKOTO.  303 

across,  and  they  always  answered  that  they  didn't  know. 
When  pressed  for  an  estimate,  some  of  them  placed  it  as 
low  as  twelve  thousand,  and  none  exceeded  twenty  thou- 
sand. Taking  the  average  of  all  these  guesses  as  the 
actual  population,  we  may  fairly  put  it  at  sixteen  thousand. 

"The  market-place  contains  more  European  goods  than 
that  of  Kano,  but  fewer  articles  of  native  manufacture. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Kano  is  a  place  of  both 
trade  and  manufacture,  while  Timbuctoo  is  a  place  of 
trade  alone,  there  being  no  manufactures  worth  mention- 
ing. The  general  style  of  goods  on  sale  in  the  market  is 
very  much  like  that  of  Kano,  as  the  market  is  frequented 
by  the  same  kind  of  people.  There  is  a  greater  demand 
for  English  cottons,  particularly  calicoes,  than  there  is  at 
Kano,  and  the  colors  of  the  prints  on  exhibition  are  as 
gaudy  as  human  taste  can  make  them.  The  African 
is  very  fond  of  gaudy  colors,  and  the  more  of  them  that 
can  be  crowded  into  a  single  square  yard  of  cloth,  the 
better  is  he  suited. 

*'  We  wanted  to  visit  the  mosques,  and  we  wanted  to  do 
so  all  the  more  because  we  knew  we  couldn't.  The  most 
that  was  permitted  was  to  walk  or  ride  past  them  ;  if  we  had 
attempted  to  enter  the  doorways,  I  can't  say  what  would 
have  happened.  Notwithstanding  the  falsehoods  told  in 
our  behalf  by  the  Tuaregs  and  others  that  we  were  faithful 
Moslems  from  Stamboul,  a  good  many  people  had  a  sus- 
picion that  we  were  Christians,  and,  having  this  belief  they 
would  naturally  object  to  our  entering  their  mosques ; 
even  our  escort  could  not  have  been  relied  on  in  such  an 
emergency,  and  we  might  have  found  ourselves  cut  down 


304  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

by  the    swords  of  the  very   men  who  were  sent  to  pro- 
tect us. 

''  Most  of  the  streets  of  Timbuctoo  are  regularly  laid 
out,  but  in  some  parts  they  run  with  the  eccentricity  ot 
cow  paths  in  a  pasture.  The  buildings  seem  to  have  been 
dropped  down  higgledy-piggledy  wherever  they  happened 
to  fall.  This  is  the  case  more  especially  with  the  huts 
and  shanties  of  the  poor  people  than  with  the  better  class 
of  dwellings. 

'*  Both  within  and  without  the  city  we  saw  a  good  many 
caravans.  The  caravans  and  the  people  accompanying 
them  are  required  to  make  their  stopping  places  outside 
the  place,  just  as  we  were  compelled  to  do,  and  they  only 
go  inside  to  deliver  and  receive  their  cargoes,  returning 
immediately  when  their  work  in  this  line  is  over.  The 
caravans  bring  from  the  north  European  goods  of  various 
kinds, — firearms,  tobacco,  paper,  trinkets,  and  the  like, — 
to  offer  for  sale.  These  things  are  exchanged  for  slaves, 
ivory,  gold-dust,  palm  oil,  and  gums.  Northwardly  the 
trade  extends  to  Morocco,  Algeria,  and  Tripoli,  eastward 
to  the  Nile,  south  to  the  Soudan,  and  westward  to  Guinea 
and  Senegambia.  The  trade  isn't  as  extensive  as  that  of 
Kano,  and,  as  before  stated,  the  variety  of  goods  is  not  as 
great." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DOWN  THE  NIGER MUNGO  PARK  AND  THE  LANDER 

BROTHERS THE  END. 

ONE  morning,  while  our  young  friends  were  at  break- 
fast, Ned  remarked  that  he  had  heard  or  read  that 
there  was  no  rhyme  for  Timbuctoo,  to  which  Harry  re- 
plied that  somebody  had  made  one  for  it,  and  he  believed 
that  it  was  as  follows  :  — 

"  If  I  were  a  cassowary, 

On  the  sands  of  Timbuctoo, 
I'd  eat  a  missionary, 

Eat  him  bones  and  hymn-book,  too." 

'*  I  don't  see  anything  the  matter  with  that  rhyme,"  said 
Ned,  as  Harry  paused,  "  and  it  seems  to  me  there  ought 
to  be  other  rhymes  for  that  word." 

**  I  have  seen  another  somewhere,"  remarked  the 
doctor,  *'  and  I  think  it  ran  this  way  :  — 

"  '  Jim  and  I  went  to  the  races, 
By  the  coach  from  Timbuctoo  ; 
When  we  went  to  book  our  places, 
I  booked  one,  and  Jim  booked  two.'  " 

**That  recalls  to  me,"  said  Harr}^  "another  rhyme 
which  I  heard  of.     It  was  made  in  the  office  of  the  British 

305 


3o6  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Legation  at  Washington,  so  the  story  goes,  where  there 
were  two  clerks  named  Buck,  one  of  them  very  slender 
in  figure  and  the  other  inclined  to  corpulency.  One  day 
this  question  of  rhyme  came  up,  and  one  of  the  brothers 
said  he  could  make  a  new  one.  This  is  what  he  pro- 
duced :  — 

"  '  Of  late  there's  been  much  disputation 
About  a  rhyme  for  Timbuctoo ; 
But  here  we  have  in  this  legation 
Stout  Buck  and  slim  Buck,  too," ' 

"I  think,"  said  Ned,  *'that  if  we  keep  on  we  may 
find  a  whole  volume  of  rhymes  for  the  name  of  this 
inhospitable  city,  and  speaking  of  rhymes  calls  to  my 
mind  a  story  that  I  read  some  time  ago  about  a  British 
lord  who  offered  a  prize  of  fifty  pounds  to  any  one  who 
could  make  one  with  the  word  *  porringer.'  He  was  so 
confident  that  none  could  be  made  with  that  word  that  he 
was  willing  to  back  his  opinion  with  money." 

"  Did  any  one  succeed  in  winning  it?"  queried  Harry. 

'*  Yes,"  was  the  reply;  "in  a  very  few  days  after  the 
offer  was  made  public  his  lordship  received  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

"  The  Duke  of  York  a  daughter  had, 
And  gave  the  Prince  of  Orange  her, 
And  now,  my  lord,  I  claim  the  prize 
For  making  rhyme  with  porringer." 

"  He  deserved  the  reward,"  said  Harry,  "  and  I  hope 
he  received  it." 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  307 

"  I  presume  he  did,"  said  Ned,  *'  but  the  story,  as  I  read 
it,  was  silent  on  that  point." 

From  the  very  hour  of  the  arrival  of  our  friends  at 
Timbuctoo  Dr.  Whitney  was  busy  with  his  plans  for 
getting  away  from  it.  He  wanted  to  continue  westward, 
following  the  valley  of  the  Niger  to  its  head  waters,  then 
crossing  the  mountains,  entering  Senegambia,  and  ulti- 
mately reaching  the  French  possessions  on  the  west  coast 
of  Africa,  in  the  valley  of  the  Senegal  River.  The  route 
offered  a  great  amount  of  difficulties  and  dangers,  the 
natives  being  hostile,  and  so  much  so  that  there  was  a 
likelihood  that  the  whole  party  would  be  murdered. 
Then  there  was  the  desert  route  to  Morocco,  but  there 
was  nothing  of  great  interest  along  the  way,  and  the  jour- 
ney would  be  fearfully  monotonous.  There  was  also  the 
desert  route  by  way  of  Touat  and  Algeria,  but  this  had 
the  same  disadvantages  as  the  others,  with  the  additional 
objection  of  causing  them  to  traverse  a  considerable  part 
of  a  route  which  they  had  traveled  before. 

A  more  attractive  and  less  dangerous  route  was  that  by 
way  of  the  Niger,  as  they  could  float  on  its  waters  all  the 
way  to  the  ocean,  except  at  a  few  points  where  it  would 
be  necessary  for  the  boats  to  run  the  rapids  or  be 
dragged  around  them.  After  careful  deliberation  on  the 
subject,  the  doctor  decided  that  they  would  take  the  river 
route. 

With  some  difficulty  and  the  expenditure  of  presents, 
both  in  money  and  goods,  permission  to  depart  was  ob- 
tained. The  doctor  engaged  an  Arab  sheikh,  named 
Abd-el-Ali,  who  was  familiar  with  the  river,  and  who  had 


308  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

authority  enough  to  be  respected  by  the  natives  along  the 
great  stream  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the  Niger  with  the 
Benoue.  Timbuctoo  isn't  on  the  river  itself,  but  six  miles 
away  from  it.  Its  port  is  Kabara,  where  there  is  quite  a 
town,  having  considerable  commerce.  Merchandise  com- 
ing either  up  or  down  the  river  and  intended  for  Tim- 
buctoo is  landed  at  Kabara  and  carried  thence  on  camels 
or  other  pack  animals  to  the  city.  There  is  quite  a  fleet 
of  boats  at  Kabara  at  all  times  of  the  year,  and  there's  no 
difficulty  in  buying  or  hiring  them  for  a  voyage. 

As  soon  as  Dr.  Whitney  obtained  permission  to  leave 
he  sent  Abd-el-Ali  to  Kabara  to  buy  or  hire  the  necessary 
boats,  and  the  doctor  followed  with  his  caravan.  At 
Kabara  he  sold  all  his  animals,  except  two  camels  and  two 
horses,  and  sold  them  at  a  good  price,  as  it  happened  that 
a  caravan  was  just  fitting  out  for  Lake  Chad,  and  animals 
were  in  demand. 

All  the  employes  of  the  expedition,  with  the  exception  of 
Renaud,  Yusef,  and  Abdullah,  one  camel  driver,  and  the 
Arab  interpreter,  were  paid  off  and  discharged.  Three 
boats  were  engaged,  each  of  them  about  twenty-five  feet 
in  length,  and  having  four  men  to  manage  it.  Another 
and  larger  boat  of  the  kind  used  for  ferrying  purposes  was 
obtained,  and  in  this  the  camels  and  horses  were  placed. 
It  was  a  difficult  matter  to  induce  the  animals  to  step  on 
board,  and  they  were  only  embarked  with  a  great  deal  of 
noise  and  pushing  on  the  part  of  the  boatmen.  Their 
favorite  way  of  inducing  a  refractory  animal  to  go  on 
board  was  by  passing  a  rope  around  his  hind  quarters 
and   attachintj   a  dozen   ne<j^roes  to  it   at  each  end ;    then 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  3O9 

while  two  negroes  pulled  at  his  head,  others  cudgelled 
and  shouted  at  him  from  behind,  while  the  men  at  the 
rope  pulled  away  with  all  their  might.  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances the  poor  beast  had  no  other  alternative  but  to 
do  as  his  tormentors  desired. 

The  ba<j<ji^2e  was  loaded  in  the  other  boats,  and  then 
the  party  pushed  off  from  shore.  The  boat  which  carried 
our  three  friends  took  the  lead  and  the  others  followed 
closely,  the  one  with  the  animals  bringing  up  the  rear. 
In  this  order  the  aquatic  procession  left  the  bend  of  the 
river  where  Kabara  stands,  and  pushed  out  into  the  cur- 
rent of  the  Niger. 

Ned  and  Harry  greatly  enjoyed  this  mode  of  traveling, 
there  being  no  mounting  or  dismounting  into  or  from  the 
saddle,  no  creeping  over  the  hot  sands,  nor  any  of  the 
other  inconveniences  of  land  travel.  The  center  of  each 
of  their  boats,  with  the  exception  of  the  ''menagerie,"  as 
they  called  the  one  that  carried  the  animals,  was  roofed 
over,  so  that  the  travelers  could,  if  they  wished,  sit  com- 
fortably in  the  shade.  The  current  bore  them  steadily 
along,  and  the  rowers  had  little  to  do,  except  to  keep  the 
boat  in  its  proper  course.  They  found  that  the  river 
below  Kabara  was  full  of  islands,  and  realized  the  fore- 
sight of  Dr.  Whitney  in  engaging  some  one  who  was 
familiar  with  the  course  of  the  stream  and  able  to  indi- 
cate the  route.  No  doubt,  the  boatmen  were  sufficiently 
good  pilots  for  all  practical  purposes,  but  it  was  desirable 
to  have  some  one  in  control,  and  Abd-el-Ali  was  just  the 
man  they  wanted. 

It  was  early  in  the  afternoon  when  the  party  left  Kabara, 


3IO  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

and,  consequently,  they  did  not  make  much  progress 
during  the  first  day.  The  sheikh  selected  a  landing-place 
on  an  island  which  had  no  inhabitants,  deeming  it  safer 
there  than  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  ferry-boat  was 
brought  up  to  the  land,  so  that  the  animals  could  step 
ashore  without  difficulty,  and  they  made  no  opposition  to 
setting  foot  on  terra  firma.  The  grass  was  thick  and 
sweet  on  the  island,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
camels  and  horses  were  well  fed  that  night  and  the  next 
morning.  By  means  of  ropes  they  were  picketed  so  that 
they  could  graze  over  a  considerable  area,  and  not  one  of 
them  showed  the  least  inclination  to  miss  his  opportunity. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  quadrupeds  had  a  more  agree- 
able stay  on  the  island  than  the  bipeds,  as  the  latter  were 
greatly  annoyed  by  mosquitoes.  Fortunately,  our  friends 
were  provided  with  mosquito  nets  and  were  able  in  part 
to  defend  themselves,  and  thus  diminish  the  annoyance. 
They  couldn't  do  away  with  it  altogether,  as  the  insects 
were  of  assorted  sizes,  and  the  smallest  of  them  could  get 
through  the  meshes  of  the  nets  with  the  utmost  ease,  and 
Ned  said  he  wouldn't  be  surprised  to  hear  of  their  getting 
through  the  side  of  a  tin  trunk.  The  natives  made 
smudges  of  grass,  reeds,  and  underbrush,  and,  further- 
more, they  were  accustomed  to  living  among  the  mosqui- 
toes and  didn't  specially  mind  them.  The  presence  of 
these  pests,  however,  had  the  effect  of  getting  everybody 
out  of  bed  early  in  the  morning,  and  in  this  respect  they 
were  decidedly  useful. 

Before  leaving  Kabara,  Ned  and  Harry  indulged  in 
expectations  of  the  fun  they  would  have  in  bathing  in  the 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  3II 

river  night  and  morning,  but  they  changed  their  views 
very  materially  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day  and  did 
not  attempt  to  bathe  in  the  stream.  They  ascertained  that 
the  river  abounded  in  crocodiles,  and  these  creatures  are 
always  discouraging  to  bathers.  River  horses,  or  hippo- 
potami, were  also  abundant,  and  occasionally  came  to  the 
surface  to  look  wonderingly  at  the  boats,  and  sometimes 
acted  as  though  they  intended  an  attack.  The  snouts  of 
the  crocodiles  were  frequently  visible,  and  there  was  no 
doubt  in  the  minds  of  our  young  friends  that  these  ugly- 
looking  saurins  would  be  very  glad  to  take  them  in.  So 
their  nearest  approach  to  a  river  bath  was  to  stand  near 
the  edge  of  the  bank  and  have  servants  throw  buckets  of 
water  over  them. 

Soon  after  starting  out  in  the  morning  the  Niger  nar- 
rowed down  to  a  single  road  stream,  leaving  the  maze  of 
islands  behind.  The  current,  which  had  been  sluggish  at 
first,  now  increased  to  a  good  three  miles  an  hour.  The 
rowers,  under  the  guidance  of  their  pilot,  kept  the  boats 
where  the  stream  was  strongest,  which  was  just  enough  to 
give  the  flotilla  steerage  way.  It  w^as  a  delightful  mode 
of  travel  compared  with  that  of  the  desert  on  the  back  of 
a  camel  or  horse. 

About  noon  the  boats  came  to  a  place  where  the  main 
channel  swept  close  to  the  southern  bank,  so  as  to  bring 
them  within  twenty  yards  of  the  land.  In  this  bend  ot 
the  river  there  was  a  large  village,  and  a  group  of  about 
fifty  natives,  armed  with  spears,  bows  and  arrows,  and  a 
few  muskets,  came  to  the  water's  edge  and  demanded  that 
the  party  should  stop  and  pay  tribute.     The  doctor  re- 


312  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

f erred  the  question  to  Abd-el-Ali,  who  said  there  was  no 
occasion  for  anything  of  the  kind,  as  the  river  did  not 
belong  to  the  natives  on  the  banks,  but  was  free  to  every- 
body. He  told  the  boatmen  to  keep  on,  and  they  obeyed 
his  orders.  The  natives  fired  upon  them  with  their  mus- 
kets, but  the  bullets  went  wide  of  their  mark.  Ned  said 
they  must  have  been  poor  marksmen,  as  they  couldn't 
even  hit  one  of  the  camels  which  was  standing  up  in  the 
menagerie,  and  a  man  who  couldn't  hit  a  camel  at  that 
distance  must  be  the  poorest  kind  of  a  shot. 

The  doctor  and  his  young  companions  were  ready  with 
their  rifles,  but  they  withheld  their  fire,  not  wishing  to 
injure  anybody  unless  they  were  first  injured  themselves. 

''  Quite  likely,"  said  the  doctor,  ''  we  may  have  to  do 
some  shooting  to  defend  ourselves  before  we  get  through 
with  this  part  of  our  journey.  It  was  somewhere  in  this 
part  of  the  Niger  that  Mungo  Park  lost  his  life  after  sev- 
eral fights  with  the  natives." 

**  I  remember  reading  about  it,"  said  Ned.  "  He  came 
over  the  mountains  from  Senegambia  in  May,  1805,  with 
thirty-eight  men,  intending  to  descend  the  Niger  in  boats 
to  its  mouth.  I  think  that  the  account  I  read  said  that  he 
perished  by  drowning." 

**  Quite  likely  it  did,"  said  the  doctor;  *'  but  there  has 
always  been  an  uncertainty  as  to  the  manner  of  his  death, 
for  the  reason  that  the  explorer  and  all  his  men  perished, 
and  the  story  of  their  death  was  told  by  their  assailants. 
At  the  time  of  Park's  death  he  was  having  a  fight  with 
people  on  shore,  and  one  account  says  that  his  boat  was 
overturned  in  a  rapid  while  the  fight  was  going  on.     Park 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  313 

and    two   of    his  men  were  drowned  while  attempting  to 
reach  the  shore,  and  the  rest  were  killed." 

*'  1  presume,"  said  Harr}^,  "  that  the  natives  had  no  fire- 
arms at  that  time,  as  they  have  at  present." 

"  No,"  was  the  reply.  "At  least,  there  has  been  no 
mention  of  any.  In  these  modern  days  traders  have 
brought  cheap  muskets  into  most  parts  of  Africa,  and 
every  native  who  can  afford  it  is  armed  with  one  of 
them.  Fortunately  for  us,  these  weapons  are  very  cheaply 
made,  and  are  almost  as  dangerous  to  the  one  who  handles 
them  as  to  those  at  whom  they  are  discharged.  Their 
range  is  quite  short,  and  they  can't  be  aimed  at  all  accu- 
rately. Our  breech-loading  and  magazine  rifles  can  shoot 
several  times  as  far,  and  with  much  greater  accuracy.  A 
small  party  of  white  men  with  modern  rifles  can  success- 
fully resist  a  large  party  of  blacks  equipped  with  Birming- 
ham muskets." 

As  the  party  floated  along  the  river  after  passing  the 
hostile  village.  Dr.  Whitney  asked  Harry  what  he  could 
tell  him  about  the  great  river  on  which  they  were  traveling. 

**I  can't  tell  a  great  deal,"  was  the  reply,  "and  will 
repeat  what  I  learned  from  my  geography  :  — 

"  The  river  is  called  the  Nio^er  in  most  of  the  school 
books  and  on  maps  ;  it  is  also  called  the  Qnorra  (which 
means  river),  and  the  word  has  several  different  spellings. 
In  the  upper  part  of  its  course  it  is  called  Joliba,  and  it 
rises  in  the  country  of  the  Mandingos,  north  of  the  Kong 
Mountains.  In  the  first  part  of  its  course  it  flows  east  and 
northeast  towards  the  desert,  then  it  flows  southeast,  and 
afterwards  south,  and  enters  the  sea  in  the  Gulf  of  Benin. 


314  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Like  the  Nile,  Ganges,  and  other  great  rivers,  it  has 
several  mouths  which  enclose  a  large  delta.  It  receives 
many  rivers  in  its  course,  the  principal  one  being  the 
Benoue,  which  comes  in  from  the  eastward.  It  is  navigable 
for  steamboats  up  to  its  junction  with  the  Benoue,  and 
both  rivers  are  navigable  for  a  hundred  miles  or  more 
beyond  the  point  of  junction.  It  is  interrupted  by  rapids 
at  several  places,  but  can  boast  of  no  great  cataract  any- 
where along  its  course." 

*'A  very  good  description  for  a  brief  one,"  said  the 
doctor  in  a  commendatory  tone.  *'And  now  I'll  ask  a 
question  of  Ned." 

''Very  well,  sir,"  replied  that  youth,  with  a  smile,  "I 
will  answer  it  to  the  best  of  my  ability." 

''No  more  could  be  asked,"  was  the  reply.  "What 
can  you  tell  me  of  the  exploration  of  the  Niger  and  the 
discovery  of  its  source  ?  " 

"The  exploration  of  the  Niger,"  said  Ned,  "was  first 
undertaken  by  the  British  African  Association,  which  was 
founded  in  1788,  under  the  auspices  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks, 
and  one  of  the  first  enterprises  the  association  undertook 
was  the  exploration  of  the  Niger.  Several  men  were  sent 
out  at  different  times,  but  the  one  who  accomplished  most 
in  these  early  davs  was  the  famous  Englishman,  Mun^i^o 
Park,  whom  we  have  just  been  talking  about.  He  sailed 
from  England  in  1795  on  his  first  expedition,  reached  the 
head  waters  of  that  river,  and  descended  a  part  of  it,  but, 
owing  to  the  many  obstacles  in  his  way,  he  was  unable  to 
go  all  the  way  to  its  mouth.  The  story  of  his  adventures 
is  very  interesting." 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  315 


(( 


Yes,  it  is,  indeed,"  said  Harry,  "  and  some  parts  of 
it  are  very  pathetic." 

"Can  3'ou  tell  us  about  some  of  them?"  queried  the 
doctor. 

"  I  think  I  can,"  was  the  reply.  "  One  thing  I  remem- 
ber is  that  he  says  that  in  the  most  of  the  regions  where 
he  traveled  the  people  had  never  seen  a  white  man,  and 
they  pitied  him  greatly  because  he  had  lost  his  color.  He 
tells  how  he  would  have  remained  all  night  without  food 
and  shelter  on  one  occasion,  but  for  the  kindness  of  an 
old  woman  who  gave  him  lodging  in  her  hut.  While  he 
was  eating  the  food  which  she  had  set  before  him  several 
young  girls  watched  him  and  chanted  the  following  :  — 

"  '  The  winds  roared  and  the  rain  fell  ; 

The  poor  white  man,  faint  and  weary,  came  and  sat 

under  our  tree. 
He  has  no  mother  to  bring  him  milk, 
No  wife  to  bring  him  corn. 

Chorus. 

"  '  Let  us  pity  the  white  man  ; 

He  has  no  mother  to  bring  him  milk, 

No  wife  to  bring  him  corn.'  " 

**  On  his  return  to  the  coast  he  followed  a  different 
route  from  the  one  he  took  in  his  advance.  In  one  place 
between  Kooma  and  Sibidooloo  he  was  attacked  by  Arabs, 
who  robbed  him  of  everything  he  possessed,  even  to  the 
greater  portion  of  his  clothing.  His  account  of  the  robbery 
and  what  followed  it  is  very  beautifully  told  in  his  own 


3l6  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

words.  It  impressed  me  so  much  when  I  read  it  that  I 
read  it  over  and  over  again,  and  I  beheve  I  could  repeat 
it  Hterally." 

"  By  all  means  let  us  have  it,"  said  the  doctor. 

*'  Well,"  replied  the  youth,  "  here  it  is  :  — 

*'  '  After  the  robbers  were  gone,  I  sat  for  some  time 
looking  around  me  in  amazement  and  terror.  Whichever 
way  I  turned  nothing  appeared  but  danger  and  difficulty. 
I  saw  myself  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  wilderness,  in  the 
depth  of  the  rainy  season,  naked  and  alone,  surrounded 
by  savage  animals  and  men  still  more  savage.  I  was 
live  hundred  miles  from  the  nearest  European  settlement. 
All  these  circumstances  crowded  at  once  on  my  recollec- 
tion, and  I  confess  that  my  spirits  began  to  fail  me.  I 
considered  my  fate  as  certain,  and  that  I  had  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  lie  down  and  perish. 

"  '  At  this  moment,  painful  as  m}^  reflections  were,  the 
extraordinary  beauty  of  a  small  moss  in  fructification 
irresistibly  caught  my  eye.  I  mention  this  to  show  from 
what  trifling  circumstances  the  mind  will  sometimes  de- 
rive consolation.  Can  that  Being,  thought  I,  who  planted, 
watered,  and  brought  to  perfection,  in  this  obscure  part  of 
the  world,  a  thing  which  looks  of  so  small  importance 
look  with  unconcern  upon  the  situation  and  sufferings  of 
creatures  formed  after  His  own  image?  Surely  not.  Re- 
flections like  these  would  not  allow  me  to  despair.  I 
started  up,  and^  disregarding  both  hunger  and  fatigue, 
traveled  forward,  assured  that  relief  was  at  hand ;  and  I 
was  not  disappointed.  In  a  short  time  I  came  to  a  small 
village,  at  the  entrance  of  which  I  overtook  the  two  shep- 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  317 

herds  who  had  come  with  me  from  Kooma.  They  were 
much  surprised  to  see  me ;  for  they  said  they  never 
doubted  that  the  Foolahs,  when  they  had  robbed,  had 
murdered  me.' 

*' Park's  second  journey  was  the  one  in  which  he  lost 
his  Hfe.  As  you  ah-eady  know,  he  started  down  the 
river,  having  lost  thirty-one  men  out  of  thirty-eight,  and 
the  remaining  seven  were  also  ill.  He  had  several  battles 
with  the  natives,  and  at  the  last  one  Park  and  two  of  his 
men  were  drowned  and  the  remaining  five  were  killed." 

As  Harry  paused  after  this  narration,  Ned  resumed  his 
story. 

**  The  next  expedition  after  Mungo  Park  was  that  of 
Oudney,  Clapperton,  and  Denham,  who  started  from 
Tripoli  in  March,  1822.  They  had  a  great  deal  of  dith- 
culty  in  getting  an  escort  from  Mourzouk,  but  they  finally 
obtained  one,  an  Arab  by  the  name  of  Boo-Khaloom,  who 
was  a  merchant,  and  also  a  sort  of  soldier  in  the  service 
of  the  sultan  of  Mourzouk.  His  principal  trading  was  in 
slaves,  and  it  made  no  difference  to  him  whether  he 
bought  them  or  stole  them, — in  fact,  he  rather  preferred  the 
latter  method  on  account  of  its  being  cheaper.  Soon  after 
leaving  Mourzouk  the  party  arrived  at  some  wells,  and 
found  the  ground  all  around  there  covered  with  human 
skeletons.  Boo-Khaloom  explained  that  they  were  a 
party  of  slaves  that  started  to  cross  the  desert  with  an  in- 
sufficient supply  of  food  and  water.  They  had  been  left 
to  die  there,  chained  by  the  neck  and  feet,  after  having 
been  driven  across  the  hot  desert. 

**  The  party  reached  Kukawa,  and  from  that  point  Den- 


3l8  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

ham  accompanied  Boo-Khaloom  on  one  of  his  slave  steal- 
ing expeditions.  The  expedition  was  a  failure,  and  was 
badly  defeated  and  broken  up.  Boo-Khaloom  and  most 
of  his  men  were  killed,  and  Denham  narrowly  escaped 
with  his  life.  His  companions  were  butchered  within  a 
few  yards  of  him,  and  Denham  himself  was  stripped  of 
his  clothing,  but  managed  to  escape  by  diving  under  a 
horse  and  running  as  fast  as  he  could  towards  a  mountain 
stream,  where  he  thought  he  could  take  refuge.  Here  is 
what  he  says  about  crossing  the  stream  :  — 

"  My  strength  had  almost  left  me,  and  I  seized  the 
young  branches  issuing  from  a  large  stump  which  over- 
hung the  ravine,  for  the  purpose  of  letting  myself  down 
into  the  water,  for  the  sides  were  precipitous,  when,  under 
my  hand,  as  the  branch  yielded  to  the  weight  of  my  body, 
a  large  liffa,  the  worst  kind  of  serpent  this  country 
produces,  rose  from  its  coil  as  if  in  the  very  act  of  strik- 
ing. I  was  horror-struck  and  deprived  for  the  moment 
of  all  recollection ;  the  branch  slipped  from  my  hand, 
and  I  tumbled  headlong  into  the  water  beneath ;  this 
shock,  however,  revived  me,  and  with  three  strokes  of  my 
arms  I  reached  the  opposite  bank,  which,  with  difficulty, 
I  crawled  up ;  and  then,  for  the  first  time,  felt  myself  safe 
from  my  pursuers.' 

"  Denham  managed  to  get  away  and  join  some  of  the 
people  who  had  escaped  death  or  capture.  He  rode 
nearly  fifty  miles  without  clothes,  on  the  bare  back  of  a 
lean  horse,  and  finally  reached  Kukawa,  where  he  was 
confined  for  several  weeks  with  a  severe  illness.  The 
sheikh  of    Kukawa  treated    him  very  kindly,   and    when 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  319 

Denham  got  well  again  he  accompanied  another  slave- 
stealing  expedition,  which  was  more  successful.  He 
visited  some  small  tribes  and  kingdoms,  and  returned 
once  more  to  Kukawa,  where  he  met  his  friend,  Clapper- 
ton,  who  had  been  making  explorations  to  the  south  and 
west.  Dr.  Oudney,  the  other  member  of  the  party,  had 
died  some  months  before.  Denham  and  Clapperton  re- 
turned to  England,  and  the  latter  made  another  expedition 
to  Africa  some  years  afterward.  He  had  visited  Sokoto 
on  his  first  expedition,  and  had  been  kindly  treated  by 
the  sultan.  On  his  second  expedition  he  went  again  to 
Sokoto,  and  found  the  sultan  very  unfriendly.  The  trav- 
eler was  detained  for  a  year,  being  kept  in  prison  all  the 
time ;  in  fact,  he  died  there  in  1827. 

*'  At  the  time  of  Clapperton's  death  he  had  with  him  as 
confidential  servant  a  young  Englishman,  named  Richard 
Lander.  After  witnessing  the  death  and  burial  of  his 
master.  Lander  returned  with  Clapperton's  papers  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  arrived  in  1828.  Accompanied  by  his 
brother  John,  he  sailed  from  England  in  January,  1830, 
traveled  through  Fezzan  and  Mourzouk,  and  reached  the 
Niger  at  Yauri,  whence  he  traced  its  course  to  the  ocean 
in  the  Gulf  of  Benin.  Richard  and  John  Lander  were 
thus  the  first  white  men  to  make  the  voyage  of  the  Niger. 
Five  years  later  Richard  Lander  was  killed  in  Western 
Africa,  where  he  was  in  the  employ  of  a  mercantile 
company. 

**  In  1850  the  English  Government  sent  out  another 
expedition,  headed  by  James  Richardson,  an  Englishman, 
accompanied   by  two   Germans,  Dr.    Overweg    and    Dr. 


320  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

Barth.  Later  another  German,  Dr.  Vogel,  was  attached 
to  the  expedition.  Mr.  Richardson  and  Dr.  Overweg 
died  of  disease,  and  Dr.  Vogel  was  assassinated.  Barth 
was  the  only  one  of  the  party  who  returned  to  Europe. 
He  visited  Timbuctoo,  and  navigated  a  part  of  the  Niger, 
but  did  not  descend  it  to  the  sea. 

*'I  mentioned  the  assassination  of  Dr.  Vogel,  and  it 
shows  the  power  of  suspicion  in  Africa.  He  had  a  very 
handsome  horse  which  attracted  the  cupidity  of  the  grand 
vizier  of  the  sultan  of  one  of  the  countries  through  which 
the  doctor  was  traveling.  The  vizier  wanted  the  horse  as 
a  present,  but  the  doctor  refused  to  give  him  away.  There- 
upon he  was  denounced  as  a  magician  because  he  wrote 
with  a  pen  without  ink  (a  lead-pencil),  and  for  this  crime 
of  sorcery  he  was  beheaded. 

*'  Another  German,  Dr.  Rolfs,"  continued  the  youth, 
"  made  a  journey  from  Tripoli,  by  way  of  the  Niger,  to 
the  Gulf  of  Benin ;  and  still  another  German,  Dr.  Nachti- 
gal,  has  made  an  extensive  journey  through  the  countries 
south  of  Lake  Chad,  and  traversed  Darfoor  to  the  Nile, 
whence  he  returned  to  Europe.  Two  or  three  French 
explorers  have  passed  through  these  regions  and  added  to 
the  stock  of  knowledge  concerning  them,  but  there  is  a 
great  deal  yet  to  be  learned,  and  we  shall  hope  that  our 
own  experiences  will  not  be  found  without  value." 

*' You  have  given  us  a  very  good  summary  of  the  ex- 
plorations in  these  regions,"  said  the  doctor.  "  I  did  not 
know  that  you  were  so  well  informed  on  the  subject." 

Just  then  the  sheikh  called  to  the  doctor  to  announce 
that  they  were  coming  to  some  rapids  in  the  river  where  it 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  32 1 

would  be  necessary  to  land  in  order  to  consider  whether 
the  boats  could  descend  with  safety.  Accordingly,  the 
flotilla  was  headed  for  the  shore,  and  shortly  came  to  land. 
The  boats  were  made  fast,  and  then  our  three  friends, 
accompanied  by  Renaud  and  Abd-el-Ali,  walked  along 
the  river's  edge  until  they  came  to  the  rapids.  Several 
natives  were  there  and  offered  to  run  through  the  broken 
water  for  a  slight  compensation.  Their  offer  was  accepted, 
and  the  sheikh  and  Renaud  got  into  a  boat  with  them  and 
made  the  descent  without  difficulty.  It  was  decided  that 
the  three  smaller  boats  of  the  party  could  make  the 
descent  without  difficulty,  and  accordingly  they  were  run 
past  the  falls  and  moored  safely  below  them. 

As  to  the  menagerie  boat,  it  was  deemed  judicious  to 
land  the  animals  and  walk  them  around  the  falls,  while 
the  boat,  thus  lightened  of  its  burden,  was  shot  through 
the  waters,  barely  missing  a  rock  in  its  passage.  After 
descending  the  rapids  the  menagerie  boat  was  brought  to 
the  shore  and  the  animals  re-embarked.  After  their  first 
experience  at  Kabara,  the  camels  and  horses  made  hardly 
any  resistance  to  going  on  board.  Ned  said  he  believed 
they  understood  they  were  saved  a  great  deal  of  fatigue 
when  transported  in  a  boat,  and  were  therefore  glad  to 
accept  the  situation. 

Camp  was  formed  that  night  on  the  mainland,  and  not 
on  an  island,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  sunset  came 
when  there  were  no  islands  in  sight.  There  was  a  native 
village  close  to  their  camping  place,  but  the  inhabitants 
showed  no  hostility  to  the  strangers  like  those  already 
described.     The  sheikh  succeeded  in  buying  a  quantity  of 


322  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

eggs  and  two  chickens ;  the  latter  were  thin  and  Hght,  but 
they  made  a  very  fair  stew,  and  formed  a  very  important 
part  of  the  evening's  meal.  Traces  of  lions  and  elephants 
were  seen  on  the  shore,  and  our  young  friends  learned 
from  the  natives  that  these  animals  abounded  in  that 
region.  Their  gardens  were  occasionally  trampled  and 
devastated  by  elephants,  and  they  had  dug  a  pit  in  which 
they  hoped  to  capture  the  next  intruder. 

The  journey  continued  down  the  river  very  peaceably. 
A  day  or  two  after  the  passage  of  the  rapids  we  have  just 
mentioned  the  travelers  came  to  a  place  where,  for  half  a 
mile  or  more,  the  river  narrowed  considerably,  and  dashed 
over  and  among  numerous  rocks.  Here  it  was  necessary 
to  land  all  the  cargo  and  transport  it  around  the  falls  on 
the  backs  of  the  camels  and  horses.  The  boats  were  also 
taken  overland,  although  it  would  have  been  possible  to 
send  them  down  by  water,  but  the  risk  of  damage  to  them 
was  too  great.  There  was  a  fairly  good  road  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river,  so  that  the  transporting  of  boats  and 
cargoes  was  made  without  difficulty,  though  it  consumed 
an  entire  day. 

Contrary  to  the  expectation  of  our  friends,  the  natives 
along  the  river  gave  no  further  signs  of  hostility,  with  two 
or  three  exceptions  that  were  of  no  material  consequence. 
In  these  cases  the  natives  ordered  them  to  land,  and  made 
demonstrations  that  were  not  at  all  friendly,  but  no  shots 
were  fired  on  either  side.  The  party  made  a  brief  stay  at 
Say,  and  also  at  Yaouri,  but  in  each  instance  they  sent 
the  sheikh  Abd-el-Ali  to  shore  to  ascertain  whether  the 
three  strangers  would  be   kindly  received   or  not.      He 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  323 

brought  back  word  that  the  natives  were  perfectly  friendly, 
and  that  they  could  visit  the  market-place  with  every 
assurance  of  safety.  The  towns  were  so  nearly  like  those 
they  had  already  seen  that  a  description  is  unnecessary. 
It  was  near  Yaouri  that  Mungo  Park  lost  his  life. 

Down  and  down  the  river  the  travelers  floated,  and 
about  two  o'clock  one  afternoon  Abd-el-Ali  told  them  that 
at  the  next  bend  of  the  river  they  would  come  in  sight  of 
the  point  where  the  Niger  and  the  Benoue  form  their  junc- 
tion. All  eyes  were  turned  in  that  direction,  and  as  the 
boat  swung  around  the  bend,  the  mouth  of  the  river  com- 
ing in  from  the  east  was  plainly  visible. 

*'Look!  look!"  said  Ned.  "Just  look!  there  comes 
a  steamboat  down  the  other  river." 

He  pointed  with  his  index  finger  in  the  direction  of  the 
stream,  and  there,  sure  enough,  was  a  steamboat  coming 
down  the  river,  and  evidently  heading  for  a  small  town  at 
the  point  where  the  waters  met. 

*'We  are  coming  to  civilization  again,"  said  Harry. 
**  We  shall  leave  the  lands  of  the  savage  behind  us  w^hen 
once  we  set  foot  on  the  deck  of  that  boat." 

*' Qiiite  true,"  said  the  doctor;  "steamboats  and  sav- 
ages do  not  belong  together,  and  whenever  the  two  come 
in  contact  the  steamboat  generally  gets  the  best  of  it." 

"I  wonder,"  said  Ned,  "how  long  they  have  been 
running  steamboats  on  the  Niger." 

"  A  British  commercial  company  was  organized  in 
1852,"  replied  the  doctor,  "  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
trading  stations  along  the  Niger  and  its  tributaries  and 
navigating  the  rivers  with  steamboats.     The  original  com- 


324  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

pany  was  merged  into  another,  and  then  again  into 
another  company.  A  French  company  was  organized 
for  the  same  business,  and  for  several  years  a  keen  com- 
petition was  maintained  between  the  British  and  French, 
and  finally  the  French  company  was  bought  out  by  its 
British  rival.  A  considerable  trade  has  been  developed 
in  the  valley  of  the  Niger,  and  an  excellent  thing  about  it 
is  that  the  company  refrains  from  selling  firearms  and 
spirituous  liquors.  In  refusing  to  sell  firearms  and  gun- 
powder it  is  looking  out  for  its  own  interests  by  depriving 
the  natives  of  the  means  of  taking  hostile  advantage  of 
them.  In  prohibiting  the  sale  of  alcohol,  it  is  more  phil- 
anthropic than  in  suppressing  the  traffic  in  firearms,  as  the 
profits  on  liquors  are  very  large,  and  the  consumption  is 
unlimited. 

"  The  Niger,  Benoue,  and  other  rivers  in  the  valley  are 
navigated  as  far  as  steamboats  can  run.  The  usual  trade 
goods  of  Africa  are  brought  here,  and  in  return  for  them 
the  boats  carry  away  ivory,  gold-dust,  hides,  skins,  tanned 
leather,  gums,  palm  oil,  and  other  products  of  the  country. 
The  trade  is  not  large,  but  the  profits  are  heavy.  At  the 
trading  stations  the  price  asked  for  goods  is  double  the 
price  asked  for  the  same  articles  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
while  the  prices  paid  for  ivory  and  other  African  pro- 
ducts are  only  half  what  they  sell  for  at  Bonny,  the  port 
at  the  Niger's  entrance  into  the  sea." 

While  this  conversation  was  going  on,  the  boats  pro- 
ceeded steadily  on  ,their  course,  and  an  hour  or  so  after 
the  steamboat  had  made  her  landing  the  flotilla  of  Dr. 
Whitney  swung  up  and  made  fast  to  the  bank  close  by 


DOWN    THE    NIGER.  325 

the  steamer.  Ned  and  Harry  wanted  at  once  to  go  on 
board  the  civiHzed  craft,  but  the  doctor  restrained  them 
by  suggesting  that  they  had  better  wait  until  after  seeing 
the  official  in  charge  of  the  trading  post. 

The  station  consisted  of  several  houses  built  with  walls 
and  roofs,  and  decidedly  suggestive  of  European  archi- 
tecture. These  houses  were  surrounded  by  a  strong 
palisade  of  posts  stuck  into  the  earth,  close  together,  and 
rising  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  above  the  ground.  Outside 
of  this  palisade  there  was  a  cluster  of  native  huts  and 
cheap  dwellings,  forming  a  village.  The  indications 
were  that  the  country  was  not  altogether  peaceful,  the 
palisade  being  intended  for  defence  in  case  of  an  attack 
by  the  natives. 

Our  three  friends  directed  their  steps  towards  the  main 
entrance  of  the  palisade.  They  passed  through  the 
gateway,  where  they  were  met  by  an  intelligent  servant 
who  spoke  English  quite  well,  and  took  their  names  to  the 
factor,  or  agent.  Captain  Armstrong.  That  gentleman 
came  out  and  greeted  the  strangers  with  great  cordiality. 

"I've  heard  of  you  repeatedly,"  said  he;  "the  news 
of  your  coming  has  been  brought  to  me  several  times  by 
merchants  from  Kukawa,  Kano,  and  other  places.  I'm 
very  glad,  indeed,  to  greet  you,  and  you  can  consider  that 
the  station  and  all  it  contains  belong  to  yourselves." 

Dr.  Whitney  thanked  the  captain  for  his  kindness,  and 
said  that  his  demands  upon  the  station  would  not  be  very 
heavy.  Then  they  had  a  short  talk  on  general  subjects, 
which  ended  with  an  invitation  for  the  doctor  and  his 
young    friends  to  occupy  rooms  in  the  company's  house 


326  IN    WILD    AFRICA. 

until  their  departure.  They  accepted  the  invitation,  and 
were  assigned  to  their  quarters  at  once. 

Captain  Armstrong  said  he  would  expect  them  to  dine 
with  him  at  seven  o'clock,  and  he  gave  orders  for  the  doc- 
tor's retinue  to  be  supplied  with  food.  The  doctor  learned 
on  inquiry  that  the  steamer  would  leave  on  the  next  day 
for  Bonny,  and  he  arranged  to  take  passage  on  her.  He 
also  arranged  for  Captain  Armstrong  to  take  charge  of 
the  camels,  horses,  and  all  the  remaining  goods  belonging 
to  the  party.  He  was  to  sell  them  to  the  best  advantage, 
and  remit  the  proceeds  to  the  doctor  when  all  transactions 
had  been  completed. 

In  preparing  themselves  for  dinner  our  friends  abandoned 
the  African  dress  and  resumed  their  European  garments. 
The  youths  regarded  themselves  in  the  mirror  with  some 
astonishment,  and  Ned  said  it  would  take  him  a  few  days 
to  become  acquainted  with  himself,  after  wearing  outland- 
ish clothes  for  so  long.  About  noon  the  next  day  the 
steamboat  ''  Wellington,"  of  the  Royal  African  Company, 
started  down  the  Niger  in  the  direction  of  Bonny,  carrying 
with  her  the  three  travelers  whom  we  have  so  long  been 
following,  and  also  Renaud,  Yusef,  and  Abdullah,  who 
were  to  return  to  Algeria. 

Our  friends  found  the  lower  part  of  the  Niger  flowing 
through  a  densely  wooded  region  which  abounded  in  sav- 
age beasts  and  savage  men.  They  made  brief  stoppages 
at  several  stations,  and  in  due  time  came  to  the  ocean  at 
Bonny,  and  greeted  the  blue  expanse  of  the  broad  Atlantic 
with  three  ringing  cheers. 

THE    END. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 
Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  jjrior  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


APR'  31973  65 


SEC'Q  m 


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